JAMES  LOWELL  GREEN 
MCMLXXVI 


JrJT  /. 


^'OOL 


ROMANCE 

OF 

PSALTER  AND  HYMNAL. 


7?  S 

ROMANCE 

// 

OF 

PSALTER  AND  HYMNAL 


R.    E.   WELSH,  M.A., 
III 

AND 

F.   G.  EDWARDS, 

Author  of Uniied  Praise" 


JAMES    POTT    &  CO., 
ASTOR  PLACE. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2014 


https://archive.org/details/romanceofpsalterOOwels_0 


PREFACE. 


^  J^^HE  past  thirty  years  have  witnessed  the  issue 
of  a  host  of  Hymnals,  each  having  its  own 
special  feature  or  guiding  purpose.  The  Tractarian 
Movement  and,  at  an  earlier  period,  the  Methodist 
Revival,  awakened  emotions  and  left  tastes  and  ten- 
dencies which  contributed  largely  to  this  outburst  of 
the  Churches  into  song.  Roundel!  Palmer's  Book 
of  Praise^  and  Hymns  Ancient  and  Modern^  published 
in  i860,  of  which  a  million  copies  have  been  sold 
every  year,  are  significant  landmarks. 

This  multiplication  of  Hymnals  has  naturally 
excited  a  new  and  keener  curiosity  regarding  the 
makers  and  the  historic  associations  of  the  Hymns 
and  Psalms  with  which  our  lips  have  become  so 
familiar. 

The  present  volume  seeks  to  meet  and  guide  this 
new  curiosity  ;  takes  some  of  our  choicest  sacred 


vi 


PREFACE. 


verse  and  endeavours  to  throw  around  it  the  living 
interest  of  curious  origin,  personal  incident,  and 
historic  episode,  which  weave  for  us  a  veritable 
romance,  the  Romance  of  Sacred  Praise. 

The  scope  of  the  book  is  too  wide  to  leave  room 
for  much  literary  criticism  or  exhaustive  detail.  It 
makes  no  claim  to  be  a  Dictionary  of  Hymnology, 
or  complete  book  of  reference.  Specialists  must  go 
elsewhere.  It  perhaps  attempts  to  cover  too  wide 
a  field,  and,  in  consequence,  much  that  was  written 
has  had  to  be  excluded  ;  but  its  object  is  to  be  a 
companion  to  the  entire  Praise,  literary  and  musical, 
of  the  Christian  Church,  giving  to  well-known 
Psalms,  Hymns,  and  Tunes  the  charm  of  having  a 
history. 

The  facts  have  been  gleaned  from  many  fields. 
For  the  story  of  the  Psalter  I  have  been  under 
great  obligations  to  Dean  Stanley,  Four  Friends 
(Ewald),  Maclaren,  Van  Dyke,  and  Dr.  Ker.  I 
have  also  to  thank  Dean  Perowne  for  courteous  and 
cordial  permission  to  make  frequent  use  of  his  vivid 
translation  of  The  Psalms. 

Although  this  work  is  not  critical,  the  conclu- 
sions of  Professor    Robertson    Smith  and  Canon 


PREFACE. 


vii 


Cheyne  on  the  one  hand,  and  of  Canon  Fausset  on 
the  other,  have  not  been  overlooked.  The  historic 
setting  of  many  of  the  Psalms  is  a  matter  of 
probability  only  ;  and  some  of  my  positions  I 
assume  with  considerable  diffidence. 

In  relating  the  story  of  the  Hymnal,  I  have 
made  large  use  of  the  biographies  of  many  of  the 
Hymn- writers  ;  and,  whilst  making  fresh  additions  to 
modern  Hymnology,  I  owe  much  to  Duffield,  King, 
and  other  previous  workers  in  the  same  field. 

This  Companion  would  be  incomplete  without 
some  account  of  the  makers  of  the  Music  to  which 
our  best-loved  hymns  are  wedded  ;  and  this  part 
of  the  work  has  been  committed  to  the  hands  of 
my  musical  friend  the  author  of  United  Praise. 

R.  E.  W. 

St.  George's,  Brondesbury, 
London,  N.W. 

The  biographical  sketches  of  representative 
modern  hymn-tune  composers,  forming  Part  HI. 
(P-  273)  of  this  book,  have  been  prepared  at  the 
suggestion  of  my  friend  the  Rev.  R.  E.  Welsh,  M.A. 

Like  much  other  biographical  matter,  the  material 


viii 


PREFACE. 


for  them  has  been  gathered  from  various  sources, 
largely  from  periodical  literature.  I  must  express 
my  indebtedness  to  my  friend  Mr.  J.  Spencer 
Cur  wen  (whose  books  Studies  m  Worship  Music  y 
First  and  Second  Series,  are  invaluable  to  all  who 
take  an  interest  in  Church  Music)  for  much  infor- 
mation contained  in  his  writings ;  and  to  Mrs. 
Gauntlett  for  kindly  giving  me  some  interesting 
details  relating  to  her  late  husband,  Dr.  Gauntlett. 

F.  G.  E. 


South  Hampstead, 

Midsitmmej'  Day,  1889. 


CONTENTS. 

PART  I.— PSALTER. 

PACK 

L  General  Survety;   Christ's  Hymnal;  The  Psalms  in 

History       .........  3 

II.  Songs  OF  a  Shepherd     .       .       .       .       .       .       •  "5 

III.  Cave  Songs  :  Imprecatory   31 

IV.  Coronation  and  Processional  Hymns    ....  38 

V.  A  Royal  Penitent's  Wail   47 

VI.  Psalms  of  a  Royal  Fugitive   58 

VII.  Songs  of  Solomon  .       .   67 

VIII.  Odes  of  Victory   79 

IX.  Songs  in  a  Strange  Land   86 

X.  Pilgrim  Songs   99 

PART  IL— HYMNAL. 

I.  General  Survey. 

1.  Nilometer  of  the  Church       .       .       .  . 

2.  The  Church  Universal  .        .       .       .       .  .116 

3.  Children's  Hymns  118 

4.  Sermonic  Hymns  .  123 

5.  Introspective  Hymns     .       .       .       ,       ,  .123 

6.  Sensuous  Hymns  125 

7.  Hymns  or  Soliloquies  ?  .125 

8.  Rejected  Hymns  127 


X 


CONTENTS. 


II.  Early  Christian  Hymns  : 

PAGE 

1.  Primitive  Church  Praise  :  "  Tersanctus  " ;  "  Gloria 

in  Excelsis  "  ;  "Gloria  Patri";  "  Lamp-lighting 

Hymn "   129 

2.  Hymns  of  Heresy  and  Orthodoxy  :  "  Bardesan  "  ; 

"Ephrem";  "Synesius"   131 

3.  Ambrosian  Hymns:  "Te  Deum  "  ....  134 

4.  Ambrose   135 

5.  Prudentius  and  Anatolius     .....  136 

6.  Gregory  the  Great :  Gregorian  Music   .       .  -137 

III.  Hymns  from  the  Cloisters  : 

1.  Monks  of  Mar  Saba   140 

2.  Monks  of  the  Studium   143 

3.  The  Two  Bernards   143 

4.  From  a  Prison  and  a  Palace   146 

5.  "  Dies  Irse"  .   148 

IV.  Hymns  of  the  Reformation  : 

1.  Martin  Luther   150 

2.  Nicolai   153 

3.  Gustavus  Adolphus   153 

4.  Rinckart   154 

,  V.  Classic  English  Poets  : 

1.  Milton   .       .       .       .  ,   158 

2.  Dryden   158 

3.  Addison   159 

4.  Sir  Walter  Scott  .161 

5.  Kirke  White   161 

VI.  Classic  Evening  Hymns  : 

1.  Lyte                                               ...  163 

2.  Ken                                                                .  166 

VII.  Puritan  Hymns  : 

1.  Watts   170 

2,  Doddridge   .176 


CONTENTS.  XB 


VIII.  Methodist  Revival  Hymns. 

PAGE 

1.  Toplady   i8i 

2.  Wesley   i86 

IX.  Olney  Hymns  : 

1.  Cowper   195 

2.  Newton ....       .       ....  20a 

X.  Classic  Missionary  Hymns  : 

1.  Heber   207 

2.  Montgomery  ...        .....  2io 

XI.  Evangelical  Hymns  : 

1.  Charlotte  Elliott   215 

2.  Bonar   218^ 

3.  Ray  Palmer   22O' 

4.  Havergal   221 

XII.  Oxford  Hymns  : 

1.  Newman   228 

2.  Faber   233 

3.  Keble   23S 

XIII.  Hymns  of  Four  Broad  Church  Deans  : 

1.  Stanley   241 

2.  Milman  .       .       .       .        .       .       .       .       .  242 

3.  Alford   243 

4.  Plumptre   244 

XIV.  Hymns  of  Three  Bishops  : 

1.  Bickersteth   245 

2.  Wordsworth   246 

3.  Walsham  How      .       .       .       .       .       .       .  247 

XV.  Hymns  of  Three  Poet- Vicars  : 

1.  Monsell   248 

2.  Ellerton   249 

3.  Stone   250 


xii 


XVI.  Hybins  of  American  Poets  : 

PAGE 

1.  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes        .....  253 

2.  J.  G.  Whittier   255 

3.  W.  C.  Bryant       .   258 

XVII.  Hymns  of  Three  Female  Singers  : 

1.  Adelaide  A.  Procter   261 

2.  Jean  Ingelow                                                   .  264 

3.  Harriet  Auber       .......  264 

XVIII.  Last,  but  not  Least  : 

1.  T.  T.  Lynch   266 

2.  Adams   .       .       .       .       .       .       .       .       .  269 

3.  Palgrave   270 

XIX.  Retrospect   272 

PART  III.— SOM^  HYMN-TUNE  COMPOSERS. 

I.  Dr.  H.  J.  Gauntlett   277 

II.  Henry  Smart   285 

HI.  Dr.  E.  J.  Hopkins   295 

IV.  Rev.  J.  B.  Dykes,  Mus.  Doc   302 

V.  Dr.  W.  H.  Monk      ,     '.       .       .       .       .       .  .310 

VI.  Sir  John  Stainer                                               .       .  317 

VII.  Sir  Arthur  Sullivan     .       .       .              .       .       .  327 

VIII.  Mr.  Joseph  Barney   332 

Index  I.  Psalms  Mentioned   341 

II.  Hymns  Mentioned   342 

III.  Hymn-Writers  Mentioned   348 

IV.  Hymn-Tune  Composers  Mentioiaed     ....  350 
V.  Hymn-Tunes  Mentioned   351 


I 


PART  1. 
ROMANCE   OF   THE  PSALTER. 


I. 


GENERAL  SURVEY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 

I.  Christ's  Book  of  Praise. 
HE  Bible,  like  each  separate  Book  in  it,  has  a 


natural  history.  It  was  not  always  a  bound 
volume.  Its  sixty-six  Books  sprang  from  distinct 
human  experiences,  and  cover  a  period  as  long  as  the 
Christian  era.  We  are,  perhaps,  prepared  to  believe 
that  the  historical  Books  were  the  product  of  natural 
circumstances  as  truly  as  were  Homer's  Odyssey 
and  Bunyan's  Pilgrinis  Progress;  but  to  one  Book 
we  have  not  been  in  the  habit  of  applying  this 
conception. 

The  Psalter  has  been  to  some  a  sort  of  Melchisedec 
in  the  Bible,  ^'without  father,  without  mother,  without 
descent,  having  neither  beginning  of  days  nor  end  of 
life."  Others  have  always  had  the  vague  idea  that 
to  David  belonged  the  entire  Book.  Are  they  not 
called  "The  Psalms  of  David"? 

It  is  wonderful  how  devoutly  we  have  read  and 
loved  them,  how  profitably  we  have  used  them,  and 
yet  how  little  curiosity  we  have  shown  as  to  the 


4 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


lives  and  histories  and  experiences  which  they 
crystalHze. 

Who  collected  them  ?  Are  the  inscriptions  pre- 
fixed to  most  of  them  of  the  same  date  as  the  Psalms 
themselves  ?  How  can  we  understand  and  use  the 
Psalms  of  Cursing  ?  What  are  the  Songs  of  Degrees  ? 
Why  that  clause  at  the  end  of  Ps.  Ixxii.,  The 
prayers  of  David  the  Son  of  Jesse  are  ended,"  while, 
later,  several  Psalms  bearing  his  name  are  given  ? 
What  is  the  reference  in  ^'Lift  up  your  heads,  O 
ye  gates  "  ? 

These  and  scores  of  questions  like  these  we  have 
been  content  to  leave  in  nebulous  mystery.  It  would 
add  greatly  to  the  charm  and  living  interest  of  the 
Psalms  if  we  could  give  the  Romance  of  their  history. 
It  is  possible  to  do  for  some  of  them  what  we  can 
do  for  Lyte's  ''Abide  with  me,"  Newman's  "Lead, 
kindly  Light,"  and  Havergal's  "Thy  life  was  given 
for  me." 

The  former  is  not  so  easy  a  task.  The  Psalms 
are  so  ancient  that  fewer  sidelights  remain  for  us. 
But  we  can  do  much  to  surround  them  with  tales  of 
their  origin,  the  tragic  and  pathetic  episodes  of  their 
history. 

Regard  the  Book  for  the  nonce  purely  as  a  hymnal, 
Christ's  Hymnal,  used  by  the  Jews  as  their  Book  of 
Praise.  Examine  it  as  you  would  examine  Hymns 
Ancient  and  Modern. 

Its  name  explains  its  contents.  As  the  lyre  gave 
its  name  to  lyric  poetry,  the  stringed  instrument  to 


GENERAL  SURVEY  OF  THE  PSALTER.  5 


which  these  sacred  odes  were  sung  gave  its  name — 
The  Psalter — to  the  collection  of  Psalms. 

The  Psalter  we  find  divided  into  five  distinct 
books,  a  second  Pentateuch :  as  has  repeatedly  been 
pointed  out,  the  fivefold  word  of  the  congregation  to 
Jehovah,  as  the  Pentateuch  is  the  fivefold  word  of 
Jehovah  to  the  congregation.  It  must  be  confessed 
that  this  parallel  has  the  look  of  manufacture  about  it, 
and  the  keener  criticism  of  the  present  time  believes  the 
fourth  and  fifth  books  to  have  been  originally  one. 

The  First  Book  ends  with  Ps.  xli.,  concluding  with 
the  Doxology  and  the  double  Amen. 

The  Second  Book  begins  with  Ps.  xlii.  and  closes 
with  Ps.  Ixxii.,  ending  with  the  Doxology  and  the 
note  "  The  Prayers  of  David  the  Son  of  Jesse  are 
ended." 

The  Third  Book  opens  with  Ps.  Ixxiii.  and  concludes 
with  Ps.  Ixxxix.,  ending  again  with  the  Doxology — 
which  thus  separates  the  Books  much  as  the  "  Gloria  " 
separates  the  chants  in  a  Service. 

The  Fourth  Book  begins  with  Ps.  xc.  and  closes 
with  Ps.  cvi.,  with  the  Doxology,  Amen,  and 
Hallelujah. 

The  Fifth  Book  contains  the  rest  of  the  Psalms,  the 
last  being  one  long  Doxology  with  Hallelujahs. 

Why  these  five  Books  ?  The  division  points  clearly 
to  the  fact  that  the  Psalter  comprises  different  collec- 
tions of  Hymns.  It  is  not  the  Higher  Criticism " 
that  has  found  this  out.  One  confirmation  patent 
to  all  is  the  fact  that  certain  Psalms  are  found  in 


6 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


more  than  one  of  the  five  compilations.  The  four- 
teenth and  the  fifty-third  are  almost  identical;  the 
latter  part  of  the  fortieth  and  the  seventieth ;  the 
fifty-seventh  and  one  hundred  and  eighth  have 
close  resemblances. 

The  First  Hymnal  contained  forty-one  pieces,  all, 
with  few  exceptions,  written  by  David.  A  little  later 
an  Appendix  or  Second  collection  was  formed,  many 
of  them  by  the  '^Sons  of  Korah,"  and  others  by 
David.  Still  again  a  Third  Selection  was  made,  one 
set  by  "  Asaph  "  {i.e.  the  Guild  of  Asaph),  and  another 
by  the  "  Sons  of  Korah."  Similarly  with  the  others 
— or  other. 

When  the  second  compilation  was  completed  with 
Ps.  Ixxii.,  a  note  was  appended  to  the  effect  that  no 
more  of  David's  songs  were  known  to  exist,  although 
others  were  found  at  a  later  point — "The  prayers  of 
David  the  son  of  Jesse  are  ended." 

Then  followed  some  editor  who  combined  the  five 
(or  four)  successive  collections  into  one.  The  In- 
scriptions and  the  Doxologies  are  no  doubt  the  work 
of  the  editor  or  editors,  and  hence  did  not  stand  part 
of  the  Psalms  as  originally  written.  Like  the  notes 
affixed  to  the  New  Testament  Epistles,  the  Inscriptions 
which  are  prefixed  to  one  hundred  and  twenty-six 
of  the  Psalms  are  not  decisive,  but  "are  entitled  to 
a  general  respect  as  ancient  editorial  annotations." 
The  thirty-four  anonymous  Psalms,  called  "  Orphans  " 
by  the  Jews,  are  none  the  less  authoritative  because 
they  have  no  editorial  authorship  prefixed. 


7 


These  Psalms  cover  a  period  of  at  least  a  thousand 
years,  as  long  as  that  covered  by  our  Hymnal  collec- 
tions. At  one  extremity  stands  the  Song  of  Moses, 
Ps.  xc, — if  indeed  it  be  his ;  at  the  other  the  Psalms 
of  the  Captivity,  a  period  corresponding  to  that  which 
lies  between  Stephen  the  Sabaite's  "  Art  thou  weary  ?  " 
written  a  hundred  years  prior  to  King  Alfred's  reign, 
and  Bonar's  "  I  heard  the  voice  of  Jesus  say." 

The  Reformation,  the  Evangelical  revival  of  the 
Wesleys,  the  Olney  history,  the  Tractarian  Movement, 
have  all  left  their  impress  on  our  hymn  books.  After 
the  same  fashion,  the  great  movements  in  Hebrew 
history  left  their  high  water  mark  in  the  Psalms. 
These  periodic  outbursts  of  praise  are  quite  distin- 
guishable. 

The  tragic  deliverance  at  the  Red  Sea  produced 
the  great  Ode  to  Liberty "  of  ancient  times,  the 
triumphal  song  of  Moses. 

The  pathetic  retrospect  of  Moses  as  he  resigned 
himself  to  death  without  entering  the  promised  land 
gave  us,  if  the  tradition  may  be  believed,  Ps.  xc, 
"  Lord,  Thou  hast  been  our  dweUing  place  in  all 
generations." 

The  eventful  story  of  Deborah  is  crystallized  in  her 
bold  and  fiery  ode  in  Judges. 

It  was  David,  however,  whose  poetic  genius,  fed  by 
his  dramatic  history,  enriched  the  Psalter  with  the 
loftiest  lyrics.  It  was  during  his  reign  that  sacred 
praise  sprang  into  maturity,  as  it  did  again  at  the 
Reformation.    In  addition  to  writing  so  many  Psalms, 


8 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


he  founded  a  School  of  Sacred  Poetry,  many  fruits  of 
which  are  contained  in  the  Psalter.  During  one  part 
of  his  reign  there  were  twenty-four  bands  of  Levite 
musicians  taking  turn  in  public  worship,  each  band 
consisting  of  one  hundred  and  sixty-six  musicians. 

The  reign  of  Jehoshaphat,  the  reign  of  Hezekiah, 
and  lastly  the  Captivity  and  Restoration,  left  separate 
and  large  deposits  of  Sacred  Song.  These  two  kings 
devoted  their  energies  to  the  restoration  and  improve- 
ment of  the  musical  service  at  the  Temple. 

Jehoshaphat  established  public  instructors  in  every 
part  of  his  kingdom.  Hezekiah  organized  a  sort  of 
Literary  Antiquarian  Society,  "  a  society  of  learned 
men  whose  duty  it  was  to  collect  and  preserve  all  the 
scattered  remains  of  the  earlier  literature  "  (Perowne). 
They  probably  saved  numerous  Psalms  from  perishing. 
That  royal  reformer,  also,  revived  the  ancient  Hebrew 
music,  and  restored  the  singing  of  the  Psalms  of 
David  and  his  school.  He  himself  wrote  sacred 
songs,  as  witness  the  plaintive  lines  composed  on  his 
recovery  from  his  nearly  fatal  illness  (Isa.  xxxviii.  9). 
The  Korahite  singers,  "  Sons  of  Korah/'  during  his 
reign,  also  wrote  several  Psalms. 

As  in  the  case  of  the  Hymnal,  the  Psalter  is  thus 
an  epitome  of  the  history  of  the  Jewish  Church.  The 
great  personal  and  national  events,  the  religious  re- 
vivals, the  social  movements,  are  registered  here  in  the 
sacred  lyrics  called  into  existence  by  these  awaken- 
ings and  deliverances.  Periods  that  permitted  sacred 
praise  to  languish  were  periods  of  languishing  rehgious 


GENERAL  SURVEY  OF  THE  PSALTER.  g 

life.  New  outbursts  of  song  were  the  immediate  pro- 
duct of  new  advances  in  piety. 

The  later  Psalms  are  less  passionate,  less  lofty  and 
poetic,  and  more  didactic  and  formal.  Ps.  cxix. — which, 
as  an  acrostic,  is  evidently  of  late  origin — is  full  of  pro- 
verbial lines  about  the  glory  of  the  law,  and  has  the 
antithetic  formahty  of  its  late  creation.*  It  was  in 
David's  time  that  sacred  poetry  had  reached  its  purest 
and  divinest  tones. 

The  Inscriptions  prefixed  to  most  of  the  Psalms 
cannot  all  be  satisfactorily  explained.  Some  of  them 
are  musical  directions.  "To  the  chief  Mustdan"  would 
be,  in  modern  dress,  "  For  the  Precentor "  or  "  Choir 
Conductor,"  meaning  that  the  Choir-master  or  Organist 
was  to  set  these  Hymns  to  music  for  the  Temple  Ser- 
vice. Indeed  the  name  of  one  choir-master  is  prefixed 
to  three  of  the  Psalms ;  namely,  Jeduthun  or  Ethan, 
one  of  the  three  famous  Choir-leaders  of  David's  time. 

This  Inscription  serves  to  illustrate  the  fact  that 
not  all  of  the  Psalms  were  written  with  the  Temple 
Service  in  view.  Just  as  the  Olney  Hymns  were 
private  and  personal  expressions  of  devotion,  so  some 
of  the  Psalms  were  written  no  doubt  first  of  all  for 
private  use. 

Other  musical  directions  are  given.  Some  Psalms 
were  to  be  accompanied  by  flutes,  others  by  stringed 


*  Some  of  the  later  Psalms  were  evidently  composed  for 
liturgical  services  in  the  second  Temple,  and  compiled  from 
earlier  Psalms, 


lO 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  PS  ALTER. 


instruments.  That  word  Selah,  that  has  been  a  mystery 
to  so  many  young  (and  some  old)  minds,  is  some  musical 
instruction  or  poetic  break.  Most  probably  it  marks 
the  place  where  a  pause  was  made  in  the  Hymn. 

Sometimes  the  name  of  the  tune  is  prefixed,  antici- 
pating the  fashion  in  modern  Hymnals.  Ps.  xxii.  is  to 
be  sung  to  the  "  Hind  of  the  Dawn ; "  Ps.  Ivi.  to  the 
"  Silent  Dove  in  far  off  lands." 

Other  titles  indicate  the  aim  of  the  Psalms:  "For 
Teaching"  (Ps.  Ix.) ;  ''For  Thanksgiving"  (Ps.  c). 
One  is  called  ''  A  Prayer,"  another  a  "  Song  of  Loves  " 
(xlv.),  and  others  are  described  as  "Songs  of 
Ascents." 

2.  The  Psalms  in  History. 

The  Psalter  has  been  the  Prayer  and  Praise  Book 
of  the  Church  Universal.  It  has  moulded  the  very 
language  and  desires  of  all  devout  spirits,  binding 
Ancient  and  Modern,  Eastern  and  Western,  in  a 
brotherhood  of  common  praise.  It  has  been  the 
hturgy  of  the  Jewish  as  well  as  of  the  Christian,  of 
the  Protestant  as  well  as  of  the  Greek  and  Romanist 
Churches.  In  creeds  and  forms  they  differ,  but  in 
devotion  they  are  alike. 

We  may  guess  how  deeply  the  Psalms  had  sunk 
into  the  Jewish  Church  of  our  Lord's  time  from  the 
fact  that  of  the  two  hundred  and  eighty-three  quota- 
tions in  the  New  Testament  from  the  Old,  one  hundred 
and  sixteen  are  from  the  Psalms. 


GENERAL  SURVEY  OF  THE  PSALTER.  ii 


It  was  the  Hymn  Book  of  the  primitive  Christian 
Church.  Christ  at  the  last  Supper,  along  with  His 
disciples,  sang  the  Hallel  Psalms,  cxiii. — cxviii.  This 
was  the  "hymn"  they  sang  before  starting  for  the 
Garden  of  Gethsemane. 

In  the  early  centuries  of  the  Christian  Church 
the  Psalter  was  the  book  put  into  the  hands  of  young 
Christians  as  their  vade  mecum ;  and  no  man  was 
admitted  to  the  superior  orders  of  the  clergy  unless, 
among  other  prerequisites,  he  could  say  all  the  Psalter 
by  heart. 

They  formed  an  essential  part  of  the  service. 
After  the  reading  from  the  Epistle,  a  whole  Psalm 
was  sung,  or  partly  read  and  partly  sung,  and  then 
followed  the  reading  of  the  Gospel."  ^'Sometimes 
they  w^ere  sung  by  the  whole  congregation ;  at  other 
times  they  were  recited  by  one  individual,  who  was 
followed  by  the  rest."  It  was  a  very  early  practice 
also  to  sing  them,  as  they  were  sung  in  the  Temple, 
antiphonally.  They  sang  either  the  verses  or  the 
two  halves  of  each  verse  alternately,  the  decani  and 
cantoris  responding  to  each  other. 

How  these  Psalms  have  rung  not  only  through  the 
Jewish  temples,  but  through  the  centuries  !  It  fills 
us  with  awe  to  think  that  David  sang  them ;  that 
Isaiah,  Nehemiah,  Gamaliel,  chanted  them  ;  that,  more 
than  all,  our  Divine  Lord  sang  them  the  night  before 
He  embraced  the  cruel  cross,  that  He  consoled  His 
spirit  as  He  expired  with  the  words  of  the  Psalms  ; 
that  Paul  and  Silas  sang  them  while  their  feet  were 


12 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


held  fast  in  the  stocks,  and  praised  God  in  such 
vigorous  tones  that  their  fellow-prisoners  heard 
them. 

''Jerome  tells  us  that  in  his  day  the  Psalms  were 
to  be  heard  in  the  fields  and  the  vineyards  of  Pales- 
tine. The  ploughman,  as  he  guided  his  plough, 
chanted  the  Hallelujah,  and  the  reaper,  the  vine- 
dresser, and  the  shepherd  sang  the  songs  of  David." 
Gallic  boatmen,  as  they  urged  their  heavily-laden 
barges  up  stream,  sang  the  Psalms  till  the  river 
banks  echoed  with  the  Hallelujah. 

Augustine  at  his  conversion  burst  into  a  Psalm, 
and  a  Psalm  consoled  him  as  he  died.  Chrysostom 
in  exile,  Bernard  on  his  death-bed,  Huss  and  Jerome 
of  Prague  in  the  midst  of  the  martyr-fire,  Xavier  and 
Savonarola  in  persecution,  sang  comfort  to  their 
souls  in  Psalms.'''  At  his  execution,  Wallace  had  the 
Psalter  suspended  before  his  eyes. 

Gustavus  Adolphus  marched  to  victory,  Martin 
Luther  went  to  "  meet  all  possible  devils  at  Worms," 
George  Wishart  dared  the  perils  of  the  plague  at 
Dundee,  Bunyan  waked  the  echoes  in  his  prison  cell, 
singing  Psalms. 

Cromwell's  troops,  true  Ironsides,  went  to  the 
battle  of  Dunbar  singing  the  sixty-eighth  Psalm  : 
"  Let  God  arise,  and  let  His  enemies  be  scattered." 
When  the  Huguenots  were  crowding  the  French 
prisons  to  overflowing,  they  were  beaten  and  dragged 


*  Stanley's  Jewish  Churchy  vol.  ii. 


GENERAL  SURVEY  OF  THE  PSALTER.  13 


by  their  hair  for  persisting  in  singing  Psalms.  They 
sang  them  in  the  ships  which  bore  them  into 
banishment  beyond  the  seas.  "  Women  and  young 
girls  were  mixed  with  the  vilest  criminals,  and  the 
Psalms  were  their  defence  against  oaths  and  foulness. 
Meeting  among  the  mountains  and  forests  of  the 
'Desert/  the  sound  of  Psalm-singing  guided  their 
friends  to  their  assembhes ;  but  sometimes  also 
brought  on  them  the  sudden  fire  of  the  enemy. 
When  at  last  madness  drove  them  to  arms,  the  Psalms 
became  their  battle-songs,  and  their  opponents  speak 
of  their  singing  as  wild  and  fierce  like  a  trumpet." 

In  many  a  glen,  on  many  a  moss  and  moor,  by 
many  a  lonely  stream,  have  the  Scottish  Covenanters 
worshipped  God  with  Psalms,  with  the  blue  sky  as 
roof,  and  the  mist  as  sole  shelter. 

What  a  wonderful  story  they  could  tell,"  says 
Dr.  Ker,  if  we  could  gather  it  all  from  lonely 
chambers,  from  suffering  sick-beds,  from  the  brink 
of  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death,  from  scaffold  and 
fiery  piles,  and  from  moors  and  mountains."  "  What 
a  history,  if  we  could  discover  the  place  this  book  has 
occupied  in  the  inner  life  of  the  heroes  of  the  king- 
)  dom"  (Tholuck).  "When  we  sing  them  we  join  with 
a  multitude  which  no  man  can  number,  a  long  line 
of  pilgrims  in  the  most  distant  ages,  who  drew  from 
them  strength  for  their  journey  and  solace  for  their 
hardships.  There  is  no  river  of  melody  which  has 
made  glad  so  many  generations  in  the  city  of  God." 
Herein  is  the  Communion  of  Saints. 


14 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


The  Psalms  give  shape  and  intensity  to  all  those 
delicate,  lurking  instincts  and  cravings  which  lie  un- 
fqrmed  in  our  hearts.  They  meet  the  soul,  not  in  its 
lighter  moods,  but  in  its  secret  and  unspeakable 
experiences,  in  its  great  crucial  moments.  They 
gather  all  our  wide,  profound  existence,  our  better 
and  worse  selves,  up  into  the  searching,  beneficent 
presence  and  pity  of  God.  Not  only  do  they  hold 
a  mirror  to  our  hearts,  give  an  anatomy "  of  all 
its  parts,  but  they 

"  Sing  God's  comfort  through  our  soul." 

The  Psalter  is  '^not  for  an  age,  but  for  all  time;" 
a  modern  book,  defying  its  two  thousand  years 
of  existence.  Compare  the  songs  of  a  later  period 
in  Greek  or  Latin  literature.  The  ancient  classics 
remain  as  standard  examples  of  literary  culture  and 
genius.  But  while  they  sing  of  bloody  battles,  of 
wine  and  passion,  the  Hebrew  psalmists,  in  sublime 
vision  of  the  Father  Spirit,  sing  of  His  moral  purity. 
His  holiness.  His  supreme  majesty,  His  tender  com- 
passion ;  and  come  so  close  to  the  very  thoughts  of 
God  that  their  songs  have  absorbed  into  themselves 
the  highest  conceptions  of  the  Gospel. 


II. 


SONGS    OF  A  SHEPHERD. 
I.  The  Hebrew  Poet  King. 

IT  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  no  Psalm  celebrates  the 
fame  of  any  Hebrew  hero.  Not  only  was  the  body 
of  Moses  buried  out  of  the  sight  and  out  of  the  ken  of 
men,  but  his  generalship,  his  statesmanship,  his  moral 
grandeur,  are  never  rehearsed  in  song.  The  poets  of 
Greece  and  Rome  sang  the  praise  of  their  national 
heroes,  but  the  Hebrew  poets  sang  the  glories  of 
Jehovah  and  Jehovah  alone. 

Even  David,  whose  life  of  stirring  incident,  of  light 
and  shadow,  of  swift  change  and  sudden  tragedy, 
would  have  supplied  material  for  a  noble  epic,  re- 
mains unsung. 

j  A  better  memorial  of  him  than  an  Epic  exists  in  the 

Lyrics  into  which  he  poured  his  heart.  They  write  his 
life-history,  transcribe  the  thoughts,  the  passions  that 
throbbed  within  him  as  he  watched  his  sheep  or  studied 
the  night-sky,  as  he  fled  before  the  blind  fury  and  mad 
jealousy  of  Saul,  as  he  sank  into  sin  and  shame  and 
endured  the  dread  Nemesis  of  his  dark  past. 


i6 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


The  historical  books  construct  the  scaffolding  of  his 
life :  his  Psalms  raise  the  real  man,  give  shape  and 
colour  and  expression  to  the  true  personality.  They 
are  the  mirror  of  his  mind.  They  reveal  a  character 
distinguished  for  noble  aims  and  v^arm-hearted  enthu- 
siasms, a  spirit  fervid  with  great  loves  and  hates,  and 
torn  with  conflicting  passions.  We  can  almost  tell 
which  Psalms  are  his  by  their  intensity  of  feeling, 
their  poetic  elevation,  their  creative  freshness.  They 
stand  in  strong  contrast  to  the  dogmatic  lines,  pro- 
verbial sayings  of  later  singers. 

Seventy-three  Psalms  are  attributed  to  David  by  the 
Inscriptions.  But  no  one  accepts  their  authority  as 
decisive.  The  destructive  critic  Ewald  allows  only 
fifteen  to  pass  muster.  Probably  the  truth  lies  some- 
where between  these  two  extremes  ;  and  we  are  not 
far  from  the  truth  when,  with  Maclaren,  we  set  down 
forty-three  as  the  contribution  of  the  sweet  singer  of 
Israel." 

Some  twenty-three  of  these  can,  with  approximate 
accuracy,  be  classified  according  to  the  succeeding 
stages  of  his  history. 

2.  Songs  of  a  Shepherd. 

Psalms  viii.,  xix.,  xxiii.,  xxix. 

The  Romance  of  David's  lyrics  begins  with  the 
Making  of  the  Poet. 

His  home  lay  in  Bethlehem,  six  miles  from  Jerusalem, 
at  that  time  Jcbus.    The  scene  was  a  sloping  ridge, 


SOJVGS  OF  A  SHEPHERD. 


17 


with  a  deep  valley  in  front  and  another  behind,  in 
which  the  cornfields  were  so  rich  that  they  gave  its 
name  to  the  village,  "  Beth-lehem,"  The  House  of 
Bread."  Beyond  lay  a  wilderness  broken  with  bare 
limestone  hills  sheltering  deep  rugged  ravines. 

It  was  on  these  slopes,  through  these  valleys,  and 
beside  these  limestone  gorges  that  the  future  poet 
and  king  kept  his  father's  sheep. 

Like  Sir  Walter  Scott,  he  was  surrounded  by  scenes 
which  nourished  his  poetic  soul. 

Yonder,  close  by,  was  the  grave  of  Rachel,  memorial 
of  Jacob's  sorrows.  On  those  very  cornfields  Ruth 
gleaned  after  the  reapers.  This  very  house  was 
probably  the  home  to  which  came  his  great-grand- 
parents, Boaz  and  Ruth,  when  the  alien  woman  became 
the  ancestress,  not  only  of  David,  but  of  David's 
greater  Son. 

Homestead  and  field  alike  served  to  quicken  his 
imagination :  and  no  doubt  he  heard  the  romantic 
story  as  embodied  in  Ruth,  as  well  as  many  another 
incident  about  her  told  by  aged  people.  Other  influ- 
ences, too,  must  have  moulded  his  character. 

The  memory  of  Samson  was  still  fresh  in  people's 
minds,  and  stories  of  that  Hebrew  Hercules,  of  his 
daring  exploits  and  wild  riddles,  must  have  fired  the 
soul  and  kindled  the  eye  of  one  who  was  a  warrior 
and  a  poet  in  the  making. 

Possibly  a  deeper  spiritual  cast  was  given  to  his 
awaking  mind  by  the  revival  which  Samuel  had  inau- 
gurated at  his  School  of  the  Prophets,  or  Religious 


i8 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  PSALTER, 


Training  School  for  Young  Men  at  Ramah,  a  few  miles 
off.  Like  Wycliffe  and  his  poor  preachers,  Samuel 
had  formed  Theological  Schools,  where  godly  young 
men  were  prepared  to  be  sent  out  to  different  places 
as  preachers. 

It  was  a  time  of  awakening,  and  what  more  likelj^ 
than  that  the  earnest  3^outh  David  should  have  been 
influenced  by  the  spiritual  teaching  of  Samuel  ?  It  is 
certain  that  he  was  brought  into  contact  with  these 
Sons  of  the  Prophets,  who  were  not  onl}"  Divinity 
students,  but  also  students  of  poetr}^  and  music.  The 
school  was  a  college  of  sacred  song  and  music,  as  well 
as  of  religion.  By  these  students,  young  men  like  him- 
self, he  was  made  familiar  with  the  treasures  of  sacred 
poetry,  the  odes  of  Moses  and  Deborah,  and  with  the 
music  of  the  harp  and  the  lyre.  Under  such  influences 
his  devotional,  musical,  and  poetic  tastes  were  cultivated. 

Like  so  many  who  have  aftenvards  risen  to  fame  as 
authors,  he  appears  to  have  stood  alone  in  his  family, 
who  saw  nothing  in  him.  This  is  betrayed  in  the 
dramatic  story  of  his  consecration  by  Samuel. 

Samuel  appears  at  Jesse's  door,  calls  on  the  sons  of 
the  house  to  appear,  rejects  one  after  another  until 
apparently  all  have  been  set  aside. 

''Are  these  all  your  children?" 

"  There  remaineth  yet  the  j'oungest,  and  behold  he 
keepeth  the  sheep" — as  if  his  father  had  scarcely 
ranked  this  dreamy  shepherd  lad  beside  his  other, 
seven,  stalwart  sons. 

"  Send  and  fetch  him." 


SONGS  OF  A  SHEPHERD. 


19 


And  when  they  have  brought  him  in  from  the 
sheep  runs,  we  see  him,  pictured  with  a  few  strokes 
of  the  brush,  a  youth  of  some  sixteen  or  eighteen. 

Here  he  comes  with  shepherd  staff  in  his  hand, 
of  fair  complexion,  with  auburn  hair  remarkable  among 
the  raven-  locked  Syrians,  and  "  of  a  beautiful  coun- 
tenance," or  rather  with  keen,  bright,  deep  eyes,  in 
which  shone  the  light  of  genius  and  the  warmth  of 
a  fervid  heart. 

In  this  youth  of  thoughtful  face,  manly  bearing, 
liquid  eye,  Samuel  recognises  the  future  king,  and 
pours  the  sacred  oil  on  his  head. 

Whether  he  was  told  the  meaning  of  the  act  we 
do  not  know.  But  it  must  at  any  rate  have  marked 
an  era  in  his  history,  must  have  given  him  the  sense 
of  coming  responsibility,  and  waked  him  to  deeper 
meditation  and  self-mastery.  This  symbol  of  a  call 
to  some  large  service  would  ripen  his  mind  and 
mature  his  character. 

The  fascination  that  was  felt  by  Samuel  was  felt 
by  all  who  met  him.  Some  irresistible  charm  in  him 
won,  in  later  years,  the  devoted  attachment  of  the 
brave  young  Jonathan ;  captivated  Saul's  daughter, 
who  confessed  her  love  unasked  ;  drew  around  him 
loyal  retainers  ;  and  gained  the  admiration  of  his  very 
foes  the  Philistines.  He  was  always  David,"  "The 
Beloved." 

But  as  yet  he  was  keeping  his  father's  flocks. 
With  no  companion  save  his  dumb  sheep,  he  was 
thrown  in  upon  himself  and  out  upon  God. 


20 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


One  companion  he  had,  his  harp,  with  which  he 
was  yet  to  soothe  the  madness  of  King  Saul,  and 
which  was  to  be  the  solace  of  all  his  years  of  royal 
eminence  and  of  exile  wanderings. 

His  calling  developed  daring  and  strength.  A 
*  shepherd's  life  there  and  then,  unhke  the  quiet  pas- 
toral life  on  British  hillsides,  was  full  of  perils  and 
hardships.  Bedouin  tribes  swept  down  upon  the 
flocks  at  intervals ;  lions,  wolves,  bears,  made  the 
sheep  their  prey.  It  required  courage  and  strength, 
firm  nerve  and  presence  of  mind,  to  deal  with  such 
dangers.  And  these  David  displayed,  as  when  he 
smote  a  lion,  and  caught  a  bear  by  the  beard  and, 
as  it  was  rising  to  give  him  the  fatal  hug,  slew  it. 

There  are  Shepherd  Songs  which  are  the  poetical 
transcript  of  these  years  of  pastoral  life.  Such  are 
Psalms  viii.,  xix.,  xxiii.,  and  xxix.  That  they  were 
composed  while  he  was  still  with  his  flocks  cannot 
be  demonstrated,  although  it  is  highly  probable. 
They  are  certainly  the  product  of  his  early  manhood, 
full  of  high  hope,  and  of  wild  delight  in  nature,  God, 
and  truth. 

They  do  not  bear  the  scars  of  sorrow,  the  brand 
of  his  fall.  He  has  not  yet  done  battle  with  the 
problems  of  successful  sin,  the  perplexity  of  life's 
inequalities  and  misfortunes,  the  strange  contradic- 
tion of  saints  suffering. 

His  questions  are  those  of  an  opening  mind.  His 
are  the  thoughts  of  a  young  thinker.  Even  if  written 
subsequently  to  his  pastoral  life,  these  Psalms  are  the 


SOJVGS  OF  A  SHEPHERD. 


21 


reminiscences  of  his  life  among  the  sheep,  under  the 
sky,  among  nature's  varied  scenes. 

Persians  were  still  worshipping  the  stars  as 
divinities  ;  Greek  imagination  was  yet  to  people  the 
hills  and  glades  with  varied  gods. 

David  makes  all  nature  praise  its  Creator,  every 
star  and  mountain  acknowledge  Jehovah. 

Whence  this  clear  perception  of  the  unity, 
supremacy,  majestic  and  holy  personality  of  God, 
while  elsewhere  polytheism  and  astrology  flourished 
without  protest? 

Psalm  xxix. 

is  a  dramatic  picture  of  a  thunder-storm.  Such  a 
thing  was  rare  in  Palestine,  and,  when  it  did  come, 
must  have  impressed  the  shepherd-poet  as  he  watched 
it  from  his  rocky  shelter. 

The  Psalm  consists  of  five  parts : — 

1.  A  prelude,  in  which  the  poet,  as  he  sees  the 
gathering  thunder-clouds,  bids  the  "  sons  of  God," 
the  angels,  in  the  holy  attire  of  worship,  bow  before 
the  approaching  Jehovah.  We  can  almost  catch  the 
hush  of  nature,  the  ominous  stillness  that  awaits  the 
voice  of  God. 

2.  Then  follows  the  body  of  the  Psalm  in  three 
equal  strophes,  each  of  five  lines,  and  each  'marking 
a  new  phase  of  the  storm  : 

(i)  The  distant  muttering  is  heard,  the  gathering 
bellow  ;  and,  as  the  first  peal  bursts  on  the  ear,  he 
exclaims  : — 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


"  Hark!  Jehovah  is  above  the  waters  (clouds), 
The  God  of  Glory  thundered, 
Jehovah!  above  the  water  floods." 

And  each  new  "  Hark ! "  seems  to  follow  a  pause, 
a  fresh  peal : 

"  Hark  !  Jehovah — is  in  power, 
Hark  !  Jehovah — is  in  majesty." 

(ii)  Then,  after  a  pause,  the  storm  breaks  on  the 
northern  mountains,  crashing  the  cedars  of  Lebanon, 
leaping  across  to  Hermon  (Sirion)  to  shatter  its  peaks 
and  make  its  trees  skip  Hke  young  buffaloes,  and  the 
awe-struck  poet  is  blinded  with  the  flash  of  fire. 

(iii)  Then  a  slight  pause,  and  once  again  a  long 
peal  rolls  across  the  sky,  shaking  the  solid  earth 
underfoot ;  and  the  storm  sweeps  southwards  to  spend 
its  fury  on  the  trembling  wilderness  of  Kadesh. 

It  has  bowed  the  very  beasts  in  labour,  "  made  the 
hinds  to  calve,"  stripped  the  leaves  off  the  trees,  and, 
as  it  dies  away,  the  heavenly  host  are  heard  ''shouting 
Glory!" 

3.  The  conclusion  follows,  containing  the  poet's 
musings  on  the  storm  :  that  the  Jehovah  who  wakes 
cloud  and  flood  to  uproar  sits  as  King,  in  royal 
power  above  them  all,  and  can  still  them  ;  that  He 
is  the  same  God  who  gives  strength  to  His  people 
and  blesses  them  with  peace. 

The  storm  has  gone  and  left  delicious  calm,  a 
softened  freshened  atmosphere,  and  dew-covered 
grass;  and  the  calm  seems  to  be  God's  promise  of 
peace  after  tempest,  of.  quiet  after  strife. 


SONGS  OF  A  SHEPHERD. 


23 


How  David  must,  like  a  select  number  still,  have 
revelled  in  the  grandeur  of  the  thunder-storm !  The 
very  structure  of  the  language  echoes  the  rugged 
thunder-peals !  It  gives  him  one  overwhelming 
thought :  Jehovah  revealing  His  grandeur  and  waking 
worship  in  man. 

Psalm  xix. 

is  a  nature-psalm,  but  of  a  very  different  kind. 

Many  a  time  has  the  young  shepherd  seen  what 
he  describes. 

Already  in  the  fields  before  day-dawn  he  sees  the 
first  flush  of  the  Eastern  sunrise.  Ere  the  sun  has 
leaped  into  the  sky,  nature  is  hushed  and  silent  : 

"  There  is  no  speech  and  no  word, 
Their  voice  is  not  heard." 

But  quickly  the  sun  lifts  himself  into  sight : 

"  He  goes  forth  as  a  bridegroom  out  of  his  chamber  ; "  \ 

and  emerging,  not  through  long  twilight  as  in  these 
northern  zones,  but  with  sudden  energy,  he  climbs 
the  skies : 

"  He  rejoiceth  as  a  mighty  man  to  run  his  race  ; 
From  one  end  of  the  heaven  is  his  going  forth, 
And  his  circuit  as  far  as  the  ends  thereof, 
Neither  is  anything  hid  from  his  heat." 

Day  and  night  "utter  speech,"  come  in  succession, 
singing  as  it  were  strophe  and  antistrophe,  answering 
each  other  like  decani  and  cantoris  in  a  grand  nature- 
cathedral.     All  "  declare  the  glory  of  God."  They 


24 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  PSALTER 


proceed  in  silence ;  no  speech  !  no  language  !  Yet 
their  silent  testimony  to  Jehovah  goes  round  the 
world  afresh  with  the  throb  and  glory  of  each  new 
morning's  light. 

Then  comes  a  sudden  transition  from  the  glory 
of  God's  round  heaven  to  the  glory  of  God's  dome 
of  truth.  The  change  in  style  and  subject  is  so 
complete  that  some  critics  are  disposed  to  break  the 
Psalm  into  two  parts,  and  to  ascribe  the  second  to 
a  later  writer.  But  this  sudden  transition  is  meant 
to  give  dramatic  force  to  the  comparison  of  God's 
truth  to  God's  sky. 

There  in  the  Law,  David's  Bible,  is  a  revelation 
of  God  more  glorious  than  the  revelation  in  the 
heavens.  God's  words.  His  statutes,  His  precepts, 
are  perfect,  pure  as  the  stars,  refresh  the  soul  like 
the  light,  heal  the  wounds  of  the  heart  which  nature 
cannot  cure. 

The  heavens  have  beauty  for  the  eye  but  little  balm 
for  the  sin-bruised  and  abashed  soul.  Only  Thou, 
O  God,  canst  cleanse  me  from  these  stains ;  and  so 
the  poet's  heart  reaches  out  to  grasp  that  pity  of 
which  nature's  gift  of  beauty  was  the  foregleam. 

Psalm  nineteen  is  a  study  of  the  heavens  by  day  : 

Psalm  viii. 

is  a  study  of  the  same  heavens  by  night. 

Like  other  Eastern  shepherds,  he  had  spent  many 
a  night  with  his  sheep  ;  and  he  had  wandered  alone. 


SONGS  OF  A  SHEPHERD. 


25 


gazing  on  the  colossal  dome  over-arching  the  earth, 
and  studded  with  the  briUiant  gem-Hke  stars,  and  with 
the  clear  moon.  All  were  of  surpassing  splendour 
in  that  Eastern  sky. 

His  first  exclamation  is :  what  majestic  glory  it 
reveals  in  God  : 

"  Thy  glory  is  high  above  the  heavens  !  " 

What  is  he,  a  mere  shepherd  youth,  a  mere  babe 
of  yesterday  ?  Yet  even  from  his,  a  babe's,  lips  can 
come  the  acknowledgment  of  glory. 

Compared  with  that  mysterious  immensity  above, 
with  the  moon  and  the  stars  : 

"  What  is  man,  that  Thou  art  mindful  of  him  ? 
And  the  son  of  man,  that  Thou  visitest  him  ?  " 

The  problem  that  baffled  the  mind  of  the  shepherd- 
poet  is  the  same  as  perplexes  earnest  and  thoughtful 
minds  three  thousand  years  later.  It  is  the  young 
man's  question  in  all  time. 

Only,  it  has  gathered  force  with  the  discoveries 
of  the  astronomers  and  the  geologists.  David  could 
have  had  no  conception  of  the  bewildering  vastness 
of  creation :  that  our  earth  would  make  merely  a 
mound  on  the  surface  of  the  sun ;  that  our  sun  is 
but  one  of  milhons  of  suns,  and  one  of  the  smallest 
of  them ;  that  there  are  some  stars  so  far  distant 
in  the  depths  of  space  that  the  light  of  our  earth, 
though  it  has  travelled  one  hundred  and  eighty-six 
thousand  miles  per  second  since  the  world  first  gave 


26 


ROMANCE  OF  7 HE  PSALTER. 


light,  has  not  yet  reached  them.  It  would  take  fifty 
thousand  years  to  reach  even  the  nearest  fixed 
star. 

And  geology  has  done  for  time  what  astronomy 
has  done  for  space — stretched  it  into  infinite  depths. 

Before  the  illimitable  sweep  of  creation,  we  shrink 
into  unspeakable  insignificance.  What  is  man,  that 
the  Almighty  Being  who  presides  over  all  this  should 
give  a  thought  to  him,  to  a  mere  speck  of  dust  in  the 
infinite  palace  of  His  universe  ?  Who  can  believe 
that  He  ever  came  to  dwell  among  men  ? 

These  are  the  questions  that  stagger  the  eager, 
earnest  minds  of  men  to-day ;  and  the  answer  is  the 
same  as  quieted  the  shepherd-poet  of  yore. 

He  swiftly  thinks  again — referring  no  doubt  to  the 
story  of  creation  in  Genesis  which  he  had  often 
read — 

"  Thou  hast  made  him  a  little  lower  than  God  (the  angels)," 

a  little  lower  because  in  the  image  of  God. 

"  Thou  hast  crowned  him  with  glory," 

the  glory  of  Thine  own  attributes,  with  mind  and 
soul,  and  power  to  commune  with  Thee.  Earth's 
creatures  are  His  servants. 

All  these  stupendous  discoveries  of  science  only 
point  the  more  convincingly  to  the  superior  greatness 
of  man's  mind,  which  can  hold  all  these  stars  and 
constellations  in  the  hollow  of  its  thoughts. 

Man  is  not  measured  by  the  yardstick.  Quantity 
of  atoms  cannot  compete  with  spirit. 


SONGS  OF  A  SHEPHERD. 


27 


There  is  a  second  universe,  namely,  the  spirit- 
universe,  of  which  the  soul  is  a  denizen.  With  all 
its  intellectual,  moral,  and  spiritual  powers,  it  stands 
higher  than  a  galaxy  of  stars,  for  it  is  like  God  in 
kind. 

The  endless  sweep  of  creation  proves  Him  to  be 
infinite.  But  His  infinity  must  reach  down  to  the 
infinitely  little  as  well  as  rise  to  the  infinitely  great. 
A  straight  line  is  not  infinite  which  only  stretches 
up  without  limit ;  it  must  stretch  down  as  far. 

God  is  not  infinite  unless  He  reach  down  to  the  in- 
finitesimally  small.  His  power  is  infinite,  as  astronomy 
proves.  If  He  is  love.  His  love  must  be  infinite  too. 
Enlarge  the  universe  and  you  only  enlarge  God ;  and 
His  Godhood  widens  down  as  well  as  up. 

Psalm  xxiii. 

contemplates  the  same  question,  the  minute  Divine 
care,  in  another  light  and  mood. 

It  is  the  great  shepherd  song,  which  has  sung  itself 
into  the  holy  of  holies  of  our  souls,  and  has  become 
the  heart's  great  comforter  and  companion. 

It  is  a  transcript  of  David's  life.  It  was  written 
perhaps  after  he  had  risen  to  the  throne,  as  he  looks 
down  on  those  valleys  and  ridges  where  he  has  kept 
his  sheep,  and  thinks  of  all  the  care  he  had  spent 
on  them. 

"  The  Lord  is  my  shepherd." 

When  the  fierce  sun  had  burnt  up  the  vegetation, 


2% 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  PSALTER, 


and  the  sheep  had  been  panting  and  exhausted  with 
the  heat,  he  had  often  gone  ahead  of  them,  and  led 
them  down  into  the  green  strips  of  meadow-land  beside 
the  quiet-flowing  stream  that  made  the  grass  fresh  and 
cool.    My  shepherd 

"  Maketh  me  to  lie  down  in  green  pastures ; 
He  leadeth  me  beside  the  still  waters." 

Many  a  time  he  had  rescued  the  careless  sheep  that 
had  fallen  into  the  ravines ;  from  many  a  prowling  wild 
beast  had  he  rescued  them.  Many  a  time  had  he  gone 
after  them,  when  they  had  strayed  away  out  to  the 
pathless,  rough  heights  and  thickets,  and  had  restored 
them  to  the  familiar  and  safer  ground. 

"  He  restoreth  my  soul : 

He  leadeth  me  in  paths  of  righteousness." 

He  had  often  led  his  sheep  through  the  rocky  gorges, 
through  the  narrow  defiles  where  the  Bedouin  lurked 
ready  to  kill  the  shepherd  and  seize  the  flock. 

'  "  Yea,  though  I  walk  through  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of 
death, 

I  will  fear  no  evil,  for  Thou  art  with  me." 
And  when  they  wandered  into  perilous  positions, 
were  in  danger  of  falling  over  cliffs,  or  of  becoming  the 
prey  of  prowling  wild  beasts,  he  had  used  his  rod  to 
smite  the  wolf,  or  lion,  or  bear, — a  rod  of  wood,  as  in 
India  to-day,  with  a  spiral  piece  of  iron  at  the  end, — 
and,  with  his  staff,  his  crook,  he  had  drawn  them  back 
and  gently  chastened  them,  and  guided  them  out  into 
safety  again. 

"  Thy  rod  and  Thy  staff,  they  comfort  me." 


SONGS  OF  A  SHEPHERD. 


29 


In  presence  of  these  watching  enemies,  beasts  and 
brigands,  he  had  shielded  them  and  fed  them  with 
abundance. 

"  Thou  preparest  a  table  for  me, 

presence  of  mine  enemies." 

From  his  flocks  he  had  one  day  been  called  in  to  be 
confronted  with  Samuel,  who  poured  the  holy  oil  over 
him,  and  his  heart  had  overflowed  with  hope ;  and  the 
recollection  winds  itself  into  his  shepherd-memories  : 

'*  Thou  anointest  my  head  with  oil, 
My  cup  runneth  over." 

Then  thinking  of  all  the  strong  ties  that  bound  him  to 
his  flock,  how  he  kept  them  all  the  day  and  then 
gently  folded  them  at  night,  he  exclaims  in  deep 
confidence : 

"Assuredly  goodness  and  mercy  shall  follow  me  all  the 
days  of  my  life, 
And  I  will  dwell  in  the  house  of  Jehovah  for  evermore." 

At  last  He  will  gather  us  into  His  fold,  will  be  with 
us  all  through  life's  day,  and  at  eventide  will  fold  us  in 
His  safe  Home  for  evermore. 

A  thousand  years  later,  other  shepherds  were  keeping 
watch  over  their  flocks  by  night  on  the  same  hills  of 
Bethlehem,  while  the  same  stars  looked  down  upon 
them.  "  And  lo  !  the  angel  of  the  Lord  came  upon 
them,  and  the  glory  of  the  Lord  shone  round  about 
them."  It  was  the  message  of  "good  tidings  of  great 
joy."  And  there  at  Bethlehem  a  new  sun  rose,  a  new 
glory  in  God  surpassing  the  glory  of  the  heavens ;  and 


30 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


feeble  man  found  God  mindful  of  him,  visiting  him  with 
His  salvation,  proving  that  the  Infinite  Creator  is  the 
Shepherd  who  knows  each  separate  life  among  His 
charge,  and  gives  His  life  for  the  sheep,"  till  at  last 
He  will  fold  them  in  peaceful  security. 


III. 


CAVE  SONGS. 
Psalms  vii.,  Ivi. 

THE  next  group  of  Psalms  marks  a  new  epoch 
in  David's  history.  They  are  no  longer 
weavings  of  speculation.  He  finds  himself  suddenly 
drawn  into  the  maelstrom  of  life's  fierce  wrongs  and 
stern  duties.    This  new  period  is  linked  with  Saul. 

King  Saul,  who  had  in  him  the  materials  for  a 
splendid  man,  had  destroyed  himself  Brooding  over 
his  predicted  downfall,  vindictive,  gloomy,  he  seemed 
to  lose  his  moral  and  mental  balance. 

Browning's  dramatic  description  (''Saul")  of  the 
young  shepherd-harpist  flinging  out  his  ravishing 
music  and  stealing  away  the  king's  moody  passion 
pictures  with  surpassing  skill  David's  loyal  love — 

"  And  oh !  all  my  heart,  how  it  loved  him  ! " 

Every  one  remembers  how  the  young  shepherd's 
slaughter  of  the  Philistine  giant  and  the  people's  song 
in  his  honour  woke  the  king  to  jealousy;  how  as 
David  tried  again  the  medicine  —  the  therapeutic 
power — of  music,  a  swift  spear  grazed  the  agile  harper 


32 


as  he  sprang  aside ;  how  the  hand  of  the  eldest 
princess  was  first  promised  and  then  mockingly  with- 
drawn, Michal  being  given  instead ;  how  the  courtiers 
and  even  Prince  Jonathan  received  secret  orders  to 
assassinate  David ;  how  the  former  advocated  his 
bosom  friend's  innocence ;  how  a  new  victory  renewed 
the  vengeful  jealousy,  and  the  spear  again  whizzed 
past  him ;  how  he  escaped  to  his  house,  the  "  lurk- 
ing dogs  "  (Ps.  lix.)  after  him  ;  how  his  wife  let  him 
down  in  a  basket,  placing  a  figure  ("teraphim")  in 
his  bed  as  a  blind  to  detain  his  pursuers. 

The  title  of  Psalm  lix.  ascribes  it  to  this  narrow 
escape,  but  without  much  authority. 

We  see  him  next  at  Nob,  a  hungry  refugee,  eating 
the  priest's  consecrated  bread,  watched  by  the  bronzed 
face  of  Saul's  sneaking,  spying  herdsman,  Doeg. 

He  seizes  Goliath's  sword,  and  flees  to  the  hills, 
taking  refuge  at  last  in  Gath,  the  very  capital  of  the 
Philistines.  To  escape  recognition — for  he  is  viewed 
with  suspicion  he  stoops  to  a  demeaning  trick, — 
feigns  madness,  and  acts  like  a  slavering  idiot. 

At  the  first  opportunity  he  escapes  to  the  hills 
again. 

In  the  deep  caves,  many  of  them  excavations,  of 
Adullam,  he  is  joined  by  some  six  hundred  outlaws 
like  himself,  driven  to  the  mountains  by  Saul's  mad 
tyranny. 

Then,  like  Robin  Hood,  we  find  him  in  the  woods. 
With  the  forest  for  covert,  Jonathan  and  he 
"lived  one  day  of  parting  love." 


CAVE  SONGS. 


33 


Listen  to  the  two  friends.  Jonathan  speaks :  Fear 
not ;  for  the  hand  of  Saul,  my  father,  shall  not  find 
thee ;  and  thou  shalt  be  king  over  Israel,  and  I  shall 
be  next  to  thee."  It  was  their  last  meeting :  for 
Jonathan  was  fated  to  fall  with  his  father. 

Engedi  is,  his  next  refuge,  high  up  among  the  hills, 
under  cliffs  that  hide  deep  natural  caves.  These 
caverns  are  dark  as  night.  The  motley  band  of 
followers  are  enjoying  themselves  ;  but  David  retires 
to  the  extreme  end  of  the  cave. 

Saul's  regiments,  three  thousand  strong,  are  on 
his  track  again.  Not  knowing  the  outlaw's  hiding- 
place,  in  the  heat  of  the  day  the  malignant  but 
wearied  king  turns  into  a  cave  for  shelter  from  the 
sun.  In  the  darkness  he  sees  nothing,  but  throws 
himself  down  and  falls  into  a  deep  sleep. 

Now  is  David's  chance !  How  easy  to  lift  his 
sharp  javelin  and  pin  the  king  to  the  ground,  and 
then  claim  the  throne  !  Now  we  shall  see  the  real 
mettle  of  the  man. 

He  refuses  to  touch  the  God-anointed  king.  He 
will  not  force  the  hand  of  Providence.  He  will  bide 
God's  time.  Were  he  to  stab  the  king  and  claim 
the  crown,  it  would  be  said  that  he  had  been  a  rebel 
all  the  time.  Though  in  the  Psalms  he  calls  down 
curses  on  his  pursuers,  he  is  at  heart  no  hater  of 
his  persecutor.  With  difficulty  but  determination 
he  holds  back  his  men  thirsting  for  revenge. 

It  is  a  striking  picture  :  these  outlaws  looking  in 
that  dim  cave  on  the  sleeping  form  of  the  man  who 

3 


34 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


has  hunted  them,  and  David,  the  chief  sufferer,  re- 
straining them  !  The  king  has  slept  his  sleep,  and 
leaves  the  cave  all  unconscious  of  the  situation. 

David  v^rill  venture  it :  perhaps  it  may  restore 
friendly  relations,  and  end  the  conflict. 

^'  My  lord  the  king ! "  he  calls ;  holds  up  the  strip 
of  cloth  he  had  cut  off  from  the  king's  skirt ;  appeals 
to  it  in  proof  of  his  loyalty  and  love  for  the  king. 
We  can  almost  see  the  av^estruck  king,  tears  falling 
down  his  cheeks,  as  he  calls :  "Is  this  thy  voice, 
my  son  David  ?  Thou  hast  rewarded  me  good : 
whereas  I  have  rewarded  thee  evil." 

The  marks  of  this  period  are  numerous  in  the 
Psalms. 

Psalm  vii. 

points  to  this  occasion.  He  protests  his  innocence 
of  any  evil  design  on  King  Saul.  He  calls  down  the 
curse  of  God  on  himself  if  he  has  been  guilty  of  any 
such  sinister  scheme : 

*'  If  I  have  rewarded  evil  unto  him  that  was  at  peace  with 
me, — 

Yea^  rather,  I  have  delivered  him  that  without  cause 
was  my  ene77iy, — 
Let  the  enemy  persecute  my  soul  and  take  it." 

At  Engedi  he  had  asked  Saul :  Wherefore  hearest 
thou  men's  words,  saying,  '  Behold,  David  seeketh 
thy  hurt.'  "  The  poor,  half-mad  king  was  evidently 
the  tool  of  intriguers  and  slanderers,  who  were  alw^ays 
poisoning  his  mind  against  David. 


CAVE  SONGS. 


35 


This  is  clear  from 

Psalm  lvi., 
if  it  belongs  to  this  period  : 

"  All  the  day  long  they  wrest  my  words  : 
All  their  thoughts  are  evil  against  me. 
They  gather  together,  they  lie  in  wait, 

As  they  have  hoped  to  take  away  my  life."' 

But 

"Thou  tellest  all  my  wanderings  : 

O  put  Tliou  my  tears  into  Thy  bottle.'' 
"  In  God  have  I  put  my  trust ;  I  am  not  afraid  ; 

What  can  man  do  unto  me  ?  " 

It  is  against  these  false-hearted  counsellors  that 
he  utters  his  imprecations.  These  are  the  lies,  the 
bitter  opponents  so  often  denounced  in  the  Psalms. 
No  wonder  the  hunted  outlaw,  half  in  despair,  pours 
out  indignant  appeals  to  God's  retributive  justice. 

Many  a  man's  lips  refuse  to  sing  Psalms  so  full  of 
withering  anathemas.  The  curses  uttered  make  us 
tremble  as  we  read  them. 

How  are  we  to  interpret  the  Imprecatory  Psalms  ? 
The  story  already  told  supplies  the  chief  part  of 
the  answer. 

These  Psalms  have  to  be  interpreted,  not  as  if 
they  were  written  in  a  Christian  country  by  a  pious 
man  seated  in  a  cosy  study,  but  by  a  brave,  noble- 
hearted,  passionate,  but  innocent  man,  who  was 
marked  for  assassination,  exiled  from  home,  pursued 
as  an  outlaw,  hunted  from  hill  to  hill,  from  forest  to 
forest,  from  cave  to  cave. 


36 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


He  was  conscious  of  his  integrity, — and  hence  the 
bold  claims  of  innocence  before  God, — and  I  do  not 
wonder  that  he  put  hot,  burning  words  into  his  songs 
at  the  time,  that  he  denounced  the  men  who  dogged 
him  with  malignant  falsehoods.  We  do  not  look  for 
fine  forgiving  phrases  from  such  pre-Christi'an  times, 
and  from  men  under  such  persecutions  :  we  find  the 
natural,  unchristianized  language  of  a  heart  that 
resents  slanders. 

Indeed,  David  was  magnanimous,  in  spite  of  his 
denunciations.  When  he  had  the  chance  of  putting 
Saul  to  death,  his  heart  failed  him. 

Here  is  the  progress  of  revelation.  There  is  but 
broken,  partial  light  at  first ;  there  are  but  half-truths. 
We  do  not  look  for  Christ's  loftiest  teaching  in 
Deborah,  Samson,  David,  Solomon. 

Let  the  Book  finish  its  story  :  read  it  all  :  it  reveals 
the  truth  when  we  have  heard  it  out. 

Besides,  we  are  in  danger  of  losing  all  moral  in- 
dignation against  sin.  We  would  take  Christ  aside 
and  rebuke  Him  for  speaking  of  a  hell.  No  man  loves 
God  who  does  not  hate  the  devil. 

The  Imprecatory  Psalms  have  a  basis  in  God's 
character,  and  in  man's  nature. 

"The  poet  Wordsworth  was  once,  walking  on  the 
sands  of  Morecambe  Bay  when  a  courier  passed  him 
on  the  gallop.  As  he  raced  by,  waving  the  flag  of 
England  in  the  air,  he  announced  the  fall  of  Robes- 
pierre, which  had  taken  place  two  days  before. 
^  Immediately,'  says  the  poet,  ^  a  passion  seized  me, 


CAVE  SONGS. 


37 


a  transport  of  almost  epileptic  fervour.'  He  reverently 
lifted  his  hat ;  and  there,  alone,  under  the  open 
heavens,  he  shouted  forth  '  anthems  of  thanksgiving 
for  the  vindication  of  eternal  justice.*  His  biographer, 
in  relating  the  incident,  grows  eloquent  in  sympathy. 
Did  not  the  whole  civilised  world  respond  in  like 
passion  of  retributive  gladness  ?  Yet  what  has  the 
Hebrew  poet  sung  in  Psalms  of  imprecation  more 
offensive  to  the  ethical  instincts  of  modern  culture 
than  the  poet-laureate  of  England  shouted  on  the 
sands  of  Morecambe  Bay  ?  " 

J  ■  - 


IV. 


CORONATION  AND    PROCESSIONAL  HYMNS. 
Psalms  xviii.,  xxiv.,  Ixviii.,  ci.,  cxxxii. 

DAVID  is  no  longer  an  outlaw,  chased  from  cave  to 
cave.  His  pursuer  is  dead,  and  he  is  king. 
When  a  swift  runner  brought  the  news  of  Saul's  sad 
and  lonely  end  to  David  at  Ziklag,  all  his  pit}^  for  the 
once  noble  king,  all  his  love  for  his  true  and  tried 
friend  Jonathan,  broke  into  passionate  lamentations. 
Like  Tennyson's  sorrow  for  A.  H.  Hallam,  his  grief 
grew  into  a  touching  ^'  In  Memoriam,"  a  pathetic  dirge 
called  "  The  Song  of  the  Bow "  (in  reference  probably 
to  Jonathan's  great  skill  as  an  archer). 

He  apostrophises  (2  Sam.  i.)  the  mighty  fallen  and 
the  dewy  mountains  of  Gil  boa. 

"  Saul  and  Jonathan  were  lovely  and  pleasant  in  their  lives, 
And  in  their  death  they  were  not  divided. 

I  am  distressed  for  thee,  my  brother  Jonathan ; 
Very  pleasant  hast  thou  been  unto  me." 

The  king  is  dead  !    Long  live  the  king  ! " 
But  a  nev7  capital  must  be  selected.    Many  a  time 


CORONATION  AND  PROCESSIONAL  HYMNS.  39 


he  had  looked  across  those  six  miles  that  intervened 
between  his  home  at  Bethlehem  and  that  stronghold, 
Jebus,  that  had  thus  far  stood  impregnable.  David  saw 
his  opportunity.  Here  were  thousands  of  warriors 
gathered  for  his  coronation.  He  would  utilize  at  once 
the  ardour  of  such  an  army,  and  would  lead  them  to 
the  capture  of  the  lofty  fortress. 

So  impregnable  had  their  city  been  that  the  Jebusites 
mocked  the  besieging  troops  below  with  taunts  and 
gibes.  The  blind  and  lame  could  defend  the  place, 
they  said  in  scorn. 

David  offered  to  make  the  first  man  who  scaled  the 
cliffs  and  took  the  fortress  his  commander-in-chief. 
Joab  it  was  who,  like  Wolfe  at  Quebec,  climbed  the 
precipitous  heights;  and  the  place  was  in  David's 
hands. 

The  strong  citadel,  a  very  Edinburgh  Castle,  became 
the  city  of  David,  the  city  of  wonderful  history  and  of 
most  hallowed  associations.  But  as  yet  it  was  a  rude 
fortress.  Much  must  be  done  to  it  ere  this  rocky 
castle  would  be  a  fit  capital  for  the  king.  Among 
other  things,  a  palace  must  be  built. 

More  important  still,  God  must  be  enthroned  in  the 
very  citadel  of  the  nation,  making  it  a  true  theocracy ; 
the  Ark,  the  symbol  of  His  presence,  must  be  brought 
and  enshrined  in  a  house  of  the  Lord  in  Zion.  Saul 
had  sunk  into  semi-heathenism ;  David,  whose  con- 
fidence had  always  been  in  Jehovah,  is  resolved  to  set 
Him  in  the  throne  above  the  throne. 


40 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  PSALTER, 


Coronation  Hymn. 
Psalm  ci. 

was  probably  written  at  this  point.  It  contains  "  the 
godly  purposes  and  resolves  of  a  king."  It  is  language 
natural  to  David,  as  he  enters  on  his  reign  with  grati- 
tude to  God  and  with  devout  resolutions  for  his  future 
action.    It  is  full  of  royal  vows. 

It  begins  with  adoring  praise  of  God  and  His  loving- 
kindness  and  judgment  in  all  David's  past  career. 
Awed  by  God's  evident  care  of  him  and  by  his  grave 
responsibilities,  he  vows  that  he  will  conduct  himself  in 
an  upright,  godly,  "perfect"  manner. 

"  When  wilt  Thou  come  unto  me  ?  "  (ver.  2). 

When  wilt  Thou,  Thine  ark,  come  to  my  capital  ?  I 
will  keep  my  court  clear  of  all  unfaithful  men  (vv.  3, 
4).  Then,  as  if  he  went  back  in  thought  to  Saul's 
slandering,  cunning  courtiers  and  resolved  to  make  his 
court  a  contrast  to  his  predecessor's,  he  proclaims 
(ver.  5)  :— 

"  He  that  vvorketh  deceit  shall  not  dwell  within  my  house ; 
He  that  speaketh  falsehood  shall  not  be  established  in 
my  sight." 

It  was  a  splendid  coronation  oath,  a  high-toned 
commencement  of  his  reign. 

The  Philistines,  however,  were  roused  to  jealous}^  by 
the  sudden  success  of  David.  They  took  the  field 
against  him,  carrying  their  idols  with  them  in  the  hope 
of  surer  victory.    But  David's  troops  swept  them  down 


CORONATION  AND  PROCESSIONAL  HYMNS.  41 


the  valley  with  irresistible  force.  He  seized  their  idols, 
and  burnt  them.  Ere  long  they  made  a  second  attack ; 
and  David,  after  again  inquiring  of  God  and  receiving 
His  command,  marches  to  a  second,  a  decisive  and 
glorious,  victory. 

These  were  but  the  beginnings  of  numerous  con- 
quests. Neighbouring  nations  began  to  recognize  the 
strength  and  wide  sway  of  this  new  monarch,  and 
some  came  to  do  him  homage.  All  these  conquests 
he  ascribes  to  Jehovah  and  His  goodness. 

^  Hymn  of  Providence. 

Psalm  xviii. 

is  a  retrospective  survey  taken  at  this  point.  It  is  an 
outburst  of  adoring  praise  in  view  of  all  the  hair- 
bieadth  'scapes  "  of  his  past  history,  of  all  his  perils 
in  caves,  perils  in  forests,  perils  in  battles,  perils  of 
spies  and  traitors,  and  also  in  view  of  Divine  protecting 
care  and  favour  that  had  led  him  safely  and  brought 
him  to  the  throne. 

But  the  king  cannot  rest  till  the  Ark  has  been  in- 
stalled in  the  royal  city.  A  chest  of  locust-wood  covered 
with  gold,  the  Ark  contained  the  stone  slabs  on  which 
the  Ten  Commandments  had  been  written  on  Mount 
Sinai,  also  the  golden  pot  of  manna,  and  the  rod  of 
Aaron  which  blossomed,  memorials  of  the  migration. 
Its  lid  was  the  mercy-seat,  on  which  the  blood  of 
atonement  was  annually  sprinkled.  Over  this  mercy- 
seat  cherubim  spread  their  wings.    It  was  the  symbol 


2; 


ROMAyCE  CF   THE  PSALTER. 


of  Jehovah's  presence,  the  Jewish  palladium.  It 
had  been  carried  round  Jericho  till  the  city  walls 
crashed  to  the  ground.  It  had  become  a  fetish  to 
the  wicked  sons  of  Eli,  who  took  it  out  to  battle, 
trusting  to  its  magical  protection,  but  ignorant  of 
its  God ;  and  in  the  defeat  it  had  been  captured  b}^ 
the  Philistines. 

Every  one  remembers  how  it  had  been  placed  as  a 
trophy  in  the  temple  of  Dagon ;  how  that  image  fell  to 
the  ground  before  it ;  how^  it  carried  pestilence  and 
death  to  the  Philistines  wherever  it  went,  until  they 
were  glad  to  get  rid  of  it. 

Irreverent  curiosity  had  led  the  men  of  Bethshemesh 
to  lift  the  lid  and  peep  in,  when  they  were  instantl}^ 
struck  dead.  For  nearly  sevent}'  years  it  had  lain 
neglected  in  its  forest  home  at  Kirjath-jearim  forest 
town").  Both  it  and  the  God  symbolized  had  been 
forgotten  or  ignored  by  Saul  and  his  son. 

David  remembers  it,  resolves  to  restore  it  to  its  central 
place  in  the  national  life.  The  Tabernacle  which  had 
sheltered  it  had  been  separated  from  it ;  so  he  erects  a 
new  tabernacle  or  tent  for  it  on  his  hill  capital. 

He  sets  out  with  thirty  thousand  men  to  accompany 
the  Ark  in  state  procession.  Among  these  are  nine 
hundred  and  sixty-two  priests  and  Levites.  Under 
David's  fostering  care,  the  choral  serv^ice  has  been 
reorganized  ;  trained  singers  compose  large  choruses, 
and,  accompanied  by  instruments,  form  the  musical 
service  on  this  state  occasion.  Thus  prepared,  that 
vast  body  of  people  sets  out. 


CORONATION  AND  PROCESSIONAL  HYMNS.  43 

Reminiscences  of  this  great  desire  of  David  are 
given,  written  perhaps  after  the  event  is  over,  in  these 

Processional  Hymns  : 
Psalm  cxxxii. 
He  had  sworn  unto  Jehovah  (ver.  2,  etc.) — 

"  I  will  not  give  sleep  to  mine  eyes, 
Nor  slumber  to  mine  eyelids, 
Until  I  find  out  a  place  for  Jehovah, 
A  dwelling-place  for  the  Mighty  One  of  Jacob." 

At  Ephrathah  (ver.  6)  he  had  heard  of  the  neg- 
lected ark,  and  in  the  fields  of  the  wood  (Kirjatli- 
jearim)  he  had  found  it. 

"  Arise,  O  Lord," — 

and  perhaps  these  words  were  sung  by  the  priests  as 
they  bore  it  to  the  Holy  City, — 

'*  Arise,  O  Jehovah,  into  Thy  resting-place, 

Thou  and  the  ark  of  Thy  strength  "  (ver.  8). 

"  Let  Thy  priests  be  clothed  with  righteousness, 
And  let  Thy  saints  shout  for  joy  "  (ver.  9). 

"  For  Jehovah  hath  chosen  Zion  "  (ver.  13)  ; 
"  Here  will  I  abide,  for  I  have  desired  it." 

The  Ark  is  lifted  to  the  shoulders  of  the  Levites, 
and  the  triumphal  march  begins  with  the  sound  of 
the  trumpet,  and  as  these  thirty  thousand  people  move 
on  and  up  toward  the  new  capital  the  choruses  and 
orchestra  ring  out  the  nation's  rejoicing. 


44 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


Psalm  lxviii. 

is  commonly  believed  to  belong  to  this  period.  It 
certainly  celebrates  the  triumphal  entry  of  the  Ark 
into  Jerusalem.  It  is  too  long  to  be  treated  in  detail 
here.  Enough  to  say  that  it  touches  on  the  historic 
episodes  in  the  nation's  past,  and  in  ver.  1 6  apos- 
trophises the  hills  as  if  jealous  of  God's  special  choice 
of  Zion : — 

"  Why  look  ye  enviously,  ye  many-peaked  mountains, 

Upon  the  mountain  which  God  hath  desired  to  dwell  in  ? 
They  have  seen  Thy  goings,  O  God,  into  the  sanctuary" 
(ver.  24). 

*'  Before  went  the  singers,  behind  the  players  on  stringed 
instruments. 
In  the  midst  the  maidens  playing  with  timbrels." 

It  is  a  triumphal  Processional  Psalm. 

Psalm  xxiv. 

is  positively  known  to  have  been  sung  by  that  colossal 
procession. 

They  have  now  come  to  the  foot  of  the  steep  gra- 
dient up  to  the  fortress  city.  David,  who  leads  the 
procession,  begins  the  ascent  with  the  proclamation  :— 

"  The  earth  is  the  Lord's,  and  the  fulness  thereof: 
The  world,  and  they  that  dwell  therein." 

Not  only  the  royal  city,  not  only  the  chosen  land,  but, 
as  he  already  sees  with  prophetic  eye,  the  whole  earth 
and  its  people  are  Jehovah's. 


CORONATION  AND  PROCESSIONAL  HYMNS.  45 


Then  one  of  the  singers  chants  the  thrilhng  chal- 
lenge : — 

"  Who  shall  ascend  into  the  hill  of  God  ? 
And  who  shall  stand  in  His  holy  place  ?  " 

Then  one  half  of  the  chorus,  the  decani,  answer  in 
clear,  full  tones  : — 

"  He  that  is  of  clean  hands  and  pure  of  heart, 
Who  hath  not  lifted  up  his  soul  unto  vanity, 
And  hath  not  sworn  deceitfully." 

The  other  half  of  the  chorus,  the  cantoris,  respond  : — 

"  He  shall  receive  a  blessing  from  the  Lord, 

And  righteousness  from  the  God  of  his  salvation." 

The  full  chorus  takes  up  the  theme,  and  the  valley  of 
Jehoshaphat  resounds  with  the  shout : — 

"  Such  are  they  that  worship  Him, 

That  seek  Thy  face,  [O  God  of]  Jacob." 

Then  a  considerable  pause,  Selah,"  during  which 
the  instruments  play  till  the  procession  reaches  the 
closed  gate  of  the  city,  when  the  whole  host  halts. 
These  gateways  were  here  perhaps  when  Melchisedec 
entered  the  ancient  town;  they  are,  as  it  were,  from 
everlasting. 

The  king  again  raises  his  voice  in  ringing  strains : — 

"  Lift  up  your  heads,  O  ye  gates  ; 

And  be  ye  lifted  up,  ye  everlasting  doors, 
That  the  King  of  glory  may  come  in." 

The  semi-choral  response  asks  : — 
*'  Who  is  this  King  of  glory  ?  " 


46 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


The  rushing  answer  comes  from  the  other  semi- 
chorus  : — 

"  Jehovah,  strong  and  mighty, 
Jehovah,  mighty  in  battle." 

The  whole  choir  catches  up  the  king's  command, 
and  pours  out  in  full  volume  : — 

"  Lift  up  your  heads,  O  ye  gates, 

Yea,  Hft  them  up,  ye  everlasting  doors, 
That  the  King  of  glory  may  come  in." 

Once  more  the  question,  now  intensified,  is  asked — 
some  think  by  those  within  the  closed  gates — 
'  Who  is  this  King  of  glory  ?  " 

And  as  the  one  triumphant  choral  shout  peals  out, 

"  Jehovah  of  hosts, 

He  is  the  King  of  glory,"! 

the  heavy  gate  is  drawn  open,  and  the  Levites  bear  in 
the  Arkj  followed  by  the  procession.  The  curtains  of 
the  tent  are  rolled  aside ;  and  in  presence  of  the  joyful, 
reverent  thousands,  the  sacred  emblem  passes  in  to  its 
rest,  bo  remain  there  till  the  Temple  should  be  erected 
to  contain  it.  Then  burnt-offerings  are  presented, 
and  the  glorious  event  is  over. 

Jehovah  is  once  more  installed  in  the  throne. 


V. 


A  ROYAL  PENITENrS  WAIL. 
Psalms  xxxii.,  li. 

SOME  ten  years  have  elapsed  since  the  triumphal 
removal  of  the  Ark  to  Jerusalem  amid  the 
people's  rejoicings.  That  decade  had  its  successful 
wars,  and  was  the  most  prosperous  period  in  all 
David's  reign.  His  palace  was  built,  his  pro-Temple 
service  improved,  his  army  organized  more  thoroughly, 
and  the  national  life  consolidated. 

We  no  doubt  have  Psalms  which  were  written 
during  these  years  ;  and  some  of  these  it  might  be 
possible  to  distinguish.  But  little  fresh  light  and 
interest  are  thrown  upon  them  by  contemporaneous 
history. 

Ten  years  have  passed,  and  now  we  find  the  king 
under  a  dark  shadow.  I  do  not  recount  the  facts ; 
every  one  knows  the  story. 

"  How  are  the  mighty  fallen  !  " 

David's  shame  seems  almost  to  compromise  the 
Book  that  tells  it.    We  have  been  so  long  accustomed 


48 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


to  look  on  Bible  characters  as  if  they  were  set  up 
as  models  that  any  stain  on  their  reputation  is  felt 
to  imperil  the  sanctity  of  Scripture. 

But  we  are  learning  that  the  Bible  teaches  us,  not 
by  painting  immaculate  saints  on  the  one  hand  and 
incarnate  demons  on  the  other,  but  by  picturing  the 
mixed  character  of  all  human  life,  by  revealing  the 
struggle  between  good  and  evil  such  as  we  ourselves 
experience.  It  is  left  to  religious  novelists  to  create 
angeUc  heroes. 

True  to  life,  the  Bible  reveals  the  war  of  passion, 
the  mixture  of  motive,  the  light  and  shadow  in  its 
characters  ;  and  they  teach  us  better  thus. 

When  sitting  for  his  portrait,  Alexander  the  Great, 
as  every  one  knows,  leaned  his  head  on  his  hand 
and  rested  his  fingers  on  his  face  as  if  deep  in  thought, 
but  in  reality  for  the  purpose  of  hiding  a  scar. 

If  the  Bible  were  a  concocted  book,  it  would  place 
a  finger  on  every  scar  in  its  favourite  characters. 
But  it  paints  them  as  they  were :  the  drunkenness 
of  Noah,  the  falsehood  of  Abraham  to  Pharaoh,  the 
deceit  of  Jacob,  and  the  cowardice  of  Peter.  And  it  does 
not  spare  David.  It  tells  the  whole  black  tale  without 
the  faintest  attempt  to  soften  the  sin  or  screen  the 
sinner.  It  speaks  with  impartial  justice.  It  is  a 
true  Book. 

Moreover,  the  story  is  the  key  to  all  that  follows. 

David  seems  to  fall  suddenly  from  heaven  to  hell. 
But  a  great  sin  never  comes  suddenly.  Hints  are 
given  of  a  hidden  decadence,  a  weakening  of  moral 


A  ROYAL  PENITENT'S  WAIL. 


4° 


fibre,  that  had  been  stealthily  preparing  for  the  king's 
sudden  fall. 

Why  was  he  not  at  the  head  of  his  army,  as  he 
used  to  be,  in  his  expedition  against  the  Ammonites  ? 
Why  did  he  ''tarry  at  Jerusalem,"  and  this  "at  a 
time  when  kings  go  forth  to  battle "  ?  He  was  still 
in  his  prime.  Why  was  he  idling  at  home  when  a 
bitter  struggle  was  going  on  at  Rabbah  with  a  power- 
ful enemy  ?  Clearly  success,  ease,  luxury,  had  sapped 
away  much  of  his  old  heroism,  and  had  helped  to  make 
him  self-indulgent  and  effeminate. 

Some  great  change  has  taken  place ;  for  the  man 
who  at  one  time  had  scruples  about  cutting  off  a 
piece  from  the  skirt  of  his  sleeping  persecutor,  Saul, 
now  plunges  into  sin  after  sin  of  the  basest  kind.  We 
think  of  only  one  sin,  but  we  never  find  a  solitary 
sin.    One  sin  brings  a  train  of  others. 

After  his  first  great  transgression,  he  orders  Uriah 
home  from  the  war  in  order  to  hide  his  sin.  Stooping 
to  the  most  despicable  shifts,  he  even  makes  his  brave 
general  drunk  in  order  to  effect  his  purpose  of  con- 
cealment. When  that  fails,  and  Uriah  hastens  to  the 
front  again,  he  makes  him — daring  wickedness  ! — the 
unsuspecting  bearer  of  a  message  to  Joab  plotting 
the  general's  death.  Joab  exposes  him  in  the  fore- 
front of  the  battle ;  Uriah  falls ;  and  the  once  pure 
shepherd-poet,  the  once  tender  fugitive,  is  a  cold- 
blooded murderer;  and  the  crafty  Joab  knows  his 
guilty  secret. 

Sin  drags  sin  after  it,  as  link  drags  link  in  a  chain. 

4 


so  ROMANCE  OF  THE  PSALTER. 

David,  strange  to  say,  has  a  long  period  of  in- 
sensibility to  his  sin.  A  year  wears  away,  and  he 
shows  no  visible  sign  of  having  revolted  from  his  sin. 
No  avenging  angel  may  disturb  a  bad  man's  sleep. 
The  worst  of  all  consequences  of  sin  is  to  be  blinded 
to  it.  The  man  one  of  whose  arms  may  be  pricked 
without  causing  him  any  pain  is  scarcely  to  be 
congratulated  on  his  impunity.  It  is  paralysis.  To 
sin  away  all  sense  of  sin  is  the  unpardonable  sin, 
because  it  is  unfelt. 

Yet,  under  his  mask,  David  was  evidently  ill  at 
ease.  Although  carrying  out  his  policy  with  un- 
blushing effrontery,  he  was  irritable  under  the  horrid 
shadow\  That  is  evident  in  the  cruel  treatment  to 
which  he  subjected  the  prisoners  taken  at  Rabbah. 
Joab  had  sent  to  Jerusalem  bidding  the  king  com^e 
and  finish  the  siege,  and  take  the  town  in  person.  He 
had  come,  and  on  the  surrender  of  the  city  he  had  put 
the  prisoners  under  saws  and  harrows,  and  into  brick- 
kilns. Such  deeds — if  we  are  to  accept  the  common 
interpretation  of  the  language — are  utterly  unlike  the 
man.  He  is  evidently  violent  and  cruel  because  of  the 
torture  of  concealed  sin.  A  conscience  that  is  sullen 
and  ill  at  ease  makes  its  possessor  harsh  and  savage. 

David  had  been  glad  to  be  called  out  to  battle.  It 
is  a  relief  to  a  sin-tracked  man  to  lose  himself  in 
exciting  events,  to  forget  the  foul  thing  in  some 
absorbing  interest.  Some  men  have  plunged  into  a 
busy  life  and  made  a  fortune  all  in  order  to  escape 
a  dark  memory. 


A  ROYAL  PENITENT'S  WAIL. 


51 


There  are  two  Psalms,  li.  and  xxxii.,  which  tell  us 
how  it  fared  with  him  during  these  months  of  seeming 
insensibiHty.  In 

Psalm  xxxii. 

we  see  behind  the  mask  he  wore. 

"  While  I  kept  silence,  my  bones  waxed  old  "  (ver.  3). 

His  obstinate  refusal  to  see  and  own  his  sins  sent 
them  in  and  aged  his  very  bones,  as  sin  has  made 
many  another  man  feel  aged.  He  had  no  music  left 
in  him ;  his  harp  was  unwelcome ;  his  heart  shrunk 
and  his  lips  closed.  He  "roared"  or  groaned  all 
day  long. 

Day  and  night  (ver.  4)  God's  heavy  hand  lay  like 
a  burden  on  him.  There  were  no  tears ;  emotion, 
fresh  feeling,  tender  regrets — all  were  dried  up, 
evaporated.  The  natural  moisture  of  feeling  had 
turned  into  the  drought  of  summer. 

He  may  well  call  sin  a  missing  of  the  mark,"  a 
blunder.  It  wears  out  the  heart,  ages  the  face,  and 
lies  like  hot  iron  in  the  hand.  Sin  burns — that  is 
hell-fire — and  burn  it  must.  God  has  in  mercy  joined 
burning  anguish  to  sin  that  He  may,  if  possible,  force 
us  to  fling  it  from  us.  As  pain  is  the  warning  of 
disease  that,  unheralded  by  suffering,  would  kill  us 
before  we  knew  of  its  existence,  so  compunction 
mercifully  forewarns  of  moral  death.  But  the  sin 
that  burns  may  also  sear,  so  that  it  can  be  carried 
hot  in  the  palm  without  pain.    See  how  David  can 


52 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


look  on  a  good  man  and  listen  to  his  significant 
parable  without  a  pang. 

He  has  returned  from  his  successful  war ;  Nathan, 
the  prophet,  goes  in  to  pay  a  visit  to  the  king.  He 
lays  before  him  a  tale  of  cruel  wrong  that  calls  for 
the  king's  interference,  the  exquisite  parable  of  the 
ewe  lamb,  so  simple,  so  direct  in  its  quick  power, 
so  artless  and  pathetic. 

"  There  were  two  men  in  one  city ;  the  one  rich, 
and  the  other  poor.  The  rich  man  had  exceeding 
many  flocks  and  herds  ;  but  the  poor  man  had  nothing 
save  one  little  ewe  lamb,  which  he  had  bought  and 
nourished  up ;  and  it  grew  up  together  with  him  and 
with  his  children ;  it  did  eat  of  his  own  meat,  and 
drank  of  his  own  cup,  and  lay  in  his  bosom,  and  was 
unto  him  as  a  daughter. 

"And  there  came  a  traveller  unto  the  rich  man,  and 
he  spared  to  take  of  his  own  flock  and  of  his  own  herd 
to  dress  for  the  wayfaring  man  that  was  come  unto 
him ;  but  took  the  poor  man's  lamb,  and  dressed  it 
for  the  man  that  was  come  to  him "  (2  Sam.  xii.). 

It  is  a  clever  plot  of  Nathan's.  He  gives  no  names, 
getting  conscience  to  give  a  verdict  on  its  own  case 
slightly  disguised.  A  significant  fact.  Self-love 
blinds  to  sin  in  oneself  We  require  to  see  it  in 
another  before  we  can  give  an  impartial  judgment. 
Who  knows  his  own  heart  ?  "  Search  me,  O  God, 
and  know  my  heart ;  see  if  there  be  any  wicked  way 
in  me." 

The  tale  of  cruel  robbery  wakes  the  king  to  an 


A  J? OVAL  PENITENTS  WAIL. 


53 


outburst  of  honest  indignation  ;  and  he  swears  that 
the  man  who  stole  the  poor  man's  ewe  lamb  shall  die 
for  it.  Then,  with  swift  but  calm,  brave  thrust,  Nathan 
says  :     Thou  art  the  man  !  " 

For  a  moment  he  is  stunned  and  amazed ;  and  then 
the  sudden,  searching  light  bursts  in  on  the  soul,  and 
the  whole  black  affair  lies  before  his  opened  eyes  in 
its  naked  ughness,  and  he  breaks  into  the  confession  . 
I  have  sinned  against  the  Lord." 

What  a  lifetime  was  crowded  into  that  minute  !  Men 
in  the  act  of  drowning  have  seen  the  whole  of  their  past 
life  flung  at  once  on  the  screen  of  memory — have  lived 
forty  years  in  a  minute.  May  not  the  crisis  of  the 
Judgment  recall  all  the  past  in  a  moment  by  touching 
memory  thus  ?  This  was  David's  judgment  hour,  and 
how  he  felt  he  tells  us  in  the  two  Psalms  of  this 
period. 

Psalm  li. 

is  the  earher  of  the  two.  It  is,  as  Maclaren  says,  all 
blotted  with  tears  as  he  sobbed  out  his  penitence." 

Aye,  and  how  many  sinning,  overwhelmed  hearts 
since  then  have  used  its  language  to  pour  out  their 
sorrowful  shame  !    He  has  only  one  cry  : 

"  Have  mercy  upon  me,  O  God,  according  to  Thy  lovingkind- 
ness  ; 

According  to  the  multitude  of  Thy  tender  mercies  blot  out 
my  transgressions." 

Here  is  the  difference  between  remorse  and  repentance ; 
the  former  a  bitter  gnawing  of  the  heart  on  itself  such 


54 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


as  David  had  during  his  year  of  sullen  silence,  the  latter 
a  sorrowing  hope  that  God's  mercy  will  forgive  the 
shameful  sin. 

Then,  as  if  revolting  from  the  foul  thing : 

"  Wash  me  thoroughly  from  my  iniquity." 

"  For" — not  as  a  claim,  but  as  an  admission  justifying 
God's  condemnation — 

"  For  I  acknowledge  my  transgressions, 

And  my  sin  is  ever  before  me." 
"  Against  Thee,  Thee  only  have  I  sinned." 

Inasmuch  as  he  has  done  it  unto  these,  he  has  done  it 
unto  God. 

He  finds  not  only  a  few  acts  of  sin,  but  a  tainted 
nature,  a  deep  root  of  sin.  The  discovery  of  one  act 
has  revealed  a  luxuriant  undergrowth  of  sin.  To  use 
Maclaren's  metaphor,  a  great  mass  of  knotted  weeds 
growing  by  a  stagnant  pool  is  dragged  towards  you  as 
you  drag  one  filament.  Draw  out  one  sin,  and  it  brings 
with  it  a  whole  matted  nature  of  sin. 

"  Behold,  in  miquity  I  was  brought  forth," 

He  does  not  throw  the  blame  on  heredity,  but  discovers 
that  he  has  been  sheltering  sin  from  the  beginning. 

God  will  have  truth  within  (ver.  7),  truth  and  not  a 
mask  of  peace,  not  a  veil  of  pretence. 

Then  comes  again  and  again  (vv.  7-9)  the  cry  to  be 
purged  with  hyssop,  to  be  washed  whiter  than  snow,  to 
have  the  joy  of  pardon,  to  feel  youth  come  back  to  the 
aged  bones.  It  seems  as  if  he  could  not  forgive  himself. 


A  ROYAL  PENITENTS  WAIL. 


55 


as  if  his  sin  was  ever  before  him,  for  still  (ver.  9)  he 
cries  : 

**  Hide  Thy  face  from  my  sins, 

And  blot  out  all  my  iniquities." 

Such  a  warm  and  passionate  nature,  that  had  sinned 
with  such  intensity,  repents  with  equal  intensity. 

We  are  told  that  "  Voltaire  once  attempted  to  bur- 
lesque this  Psalm.  While  carefully  perusing  it,  that  he 
might  famiharize  himself  with  the  train  of  sentiment  he 
designed  to  caricature,  he  became  so  oppressed  and  over- 
awed by  its  solemn,  devotional  tone,  that  he  threw  down 
the  pen,  and  fell  back  senseless  on  his  couch  in  an 
agony  of  remorse." 

Only  a  man  with  noble  strains  in  his  nature  could 
make  confessions  and  utter  laments  characterized  by 
such  generous  frankness  and  such  passionate  emotion. 

Psalm  xxxii. 

is  a  fit  sequel  to  Ps.  li.,  marking  another  stage  in  the 
story. 

Ps.  li.  opened  with  a  moan  of  shame;  Ps.  xxxii.  opens 
with  a  burst  of  joy  in  God's  pardon : 

"  O  the  blessedness  of  the  man  whose  transgression  is 
taken  away,  whose  sin  is  covered." 

In  Ps.  H.  he  used  various  synonyms  for  sin,  a 
missing  of  the  mark,"  or  "  blunder,"  transgression," 
etc. ;  here  he  uses  various  phrases  to  exhibit  the  various 
sides  of  the  blessedness  of  pardon.  In  Ps.  H.  the  utmost 
stretch  of  his  hope  was  that  perhaps  God  would  have 


56 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


pity  on  the  contrite  heart.  Here  he  has  grasped  with 
eager  dehght  the  Divine  forgiveness. 

But  the  horrid  nightmare  of  his  sin  is  ever  before 
him  (ver.  3).  He  recalls  (ver.  5)  how  he  was  glad  to 
fling  out  the  whole  horrid  thing,  glad  to  cast  out  the 
gnawing  secret,  the  serpent  that  he  had  kept  warm 
only  to  sting  him  the  more. 

"  I  said,  I  will  confess." 

"  Faults  !"  says  Carlyle  in  his  Heroes^  "  Faults  !  the 
greatest  of  faults,  I  should  say,  is  to  be  conscious  of 
none.  Readers  of  the  Bible  above  all,  one  would  think, 
might  know  better.  Who  is  called  there  the  man 
according  to  God's  own  heart  ?  David,  the  Hebrew 
king,  had  fallen  into  sins  enough :  blackest  crimes  : 
there  was  no  want  of  sins.  And  thereupon  unbelievers 
sneer  and  ask,  ^  Is  this  your  man  according  to  God's 
own  heart  ? '  The  sneer,  I  must  say,  seems  to  me  but 
a  shallow  one.  What  are  faults  ?  What  are  the 
outward  details  of  a  life  if  the  inner  secret  of  it — the 
remorse,  temptations,  true,  often-bafQed,  never-ending 
struggle  of  it — be  forgotten  ?  .  .  . 

Of  all  acts,  is  not,  for  a  man,  repentance  the  most 
divine  ?  The  deadliest  sin,  I  say,  were  that  same  super- 
cilious consciousness  of  no  sin.  That  is  death.  The 
heart  so  conscious  is  divorced  from  sincerity,  humihty, 
and  fact :  is  dead." 

After  ignoble  sin,  David  did  the  only  noble  thing  that 
he  could  now  do — made  frank  and  shame-struck  confes- 
sion ;  and  God  sent  the  swift  answer  of  pardon  through 


A  ROYAL  PENITENTS  WAIL. 


57 


the  same  messenger,  Nathan.  He  cannot  forgive  himself, 
the  shame  ever  comes  back,  but  (ver.  5) 

"  Thou  tookest  away  the  iniquity  of  my  sin." 

No  man  must  cover  his  own  sin  ;  only  the  One  against 
whom  we  have  sinned  can  cover  it. 

The  same  messenger  brought  the  charge  and  the 
pardon.  Christ  is  God's  Nathan,  and  brings  with  Him 
both  dismay  and  peace.  His  holy,  searching  eye  smites 
with  conviction,  and  then  to  the  humbled  heart  utters 
the  warm  assurance  of  pardon.  The  Cross  is  the  great 
charge  against  mankind,  the  supreme  proof,  lifted  up 
before  all  time,  of  human  hatred  of  goodness.  Yet  the 
Cross  proclaims  pardon  and  peace,  and  stands  for  ever 
as  the  proof  and  means  of  Divine  redemption. 

God  will  make  your  sin  burn  you ;  in  mercy  He  will 
make  it  too  hot  for  you  to  hold  it.  But  confess  it,  and 
the  wrong  is  half  undone.  Confess  it,  and  you  have 
divided  yourself  from  it  in  heart.  Give  God  your  eye; 
and  be  led  by  the  language  of  His  eye ;  but  if  not 
(vv.  8-10)  He  will  hold  you  with  bit  and  bridle,  and 
make  sorrows  sober  you.  What  a  patient,  persistent 
love  in  God  !  "  Thou  art  my  hiding-place."  Such 
grace  fills  us  with    songs  of  deliverance." 


VI. 


PSALMS  OF  A  ROYAL  FUGITIVE. 
Psalms  iii.,  iv.,  xli.,  Iv. 

DAVID'S  children  have  been  quick  to  follow  in 
their  father's  self-indulgent  and  vicious  ways; 
and  with  unutterable  anguish  he  sees  them  repeat  his 
own  sins.  Now,  after  ten  years  of  gathering  sorrows, 
his  very  throne  is  threatened. 

It  makes  terrible  reading,  the  story  of  his  Nemesis. 
His  son  Amnon  outrages  his  daughter,  and  the  vile 
criminal  is  allowed  to  go  unpunished.  How  can  David 
carry  out  the  law  upon  his  son,  when  he  himself  had 
incurred  the  penalty  of  death  by  his  sin  ?  This  ties 
his  hands. 

But  Absalom,  who  is  bound  to  revenge  his  sister's 
insult,  decoys  Amnon  to  his  distant  sheep-farm,  and, 
during  the  excesses  of  a  feast,  hired  assassins  kill  the 
ravisher. 

Poor  David  !  three  of  his  own  family  repeating  in 
blacker  colours  his  own  sins  of  vice  and  murder  !  And 
his  own  past  robs  him  of  all  moral  power  to  punish 
any  crime,  and  Absalom  is  finally  restored  and  forgiven 
This  is  the  beginning  of  the  decline. 


PSALMS  OF  A  ROYAL  FUGITIVE. 


59 


A  handsome  young  fellow,  with  flowing  hair  that 
yielded  an  enormous  yearly  crop,  inheriting  his  father's 
charms  of  beauty  and  gracefulness,  Absalom  captivated 
the  people's  hearts  as  he  moved  about  among  them. 
Like  the  Jacobite  Pretender,  he  won  as  many  by  his 
personal  attractions  as  by  the  worth  of  his  cause. 
He  made  a  princely  show  as  he  drove  his  chariots 
and  horses,  attended  by  his  fifty  guardsmen. 

The  king  seems  to  have  become  passive,  apathetic. 
The  sins  and  sorrows  of  the  past  decade  had  pro- 
bably unmanned  him.  It  was  his  duty  to  sit  at  the 
gate  "  to  act  as  judge  in  his  people's  disputes.  But  he 
withdrew  from  public  life. 

London  grumbles  if  the  Sovereign  lives  too  private 
and  retired  a  Hfe.  Even  the  English  people  love 
State  pageantry. 

The  fickle  populace  of  Jerusalem  were  captivated  by 
the  State  splendour  and  personal  graces  of  Prince 
Absalom  ;  and  he  took  advantage  of  the  retired  and 
sad  life  of  his  father  to  win  over,  by  crafty  tricks,  the 
affections  of  the  people. 

This  dashing  young  Pretender  frequented  the  ''gates," 
and  fanned  the  slumbering  feehng  of  disaffection.  "  O 
that  I  were  made  judge!"  he  would  say,  ''that  every 
man  which  hath  any  suit  might  come  to  me  and  I  would 
do  him  justice."  So  he  became  the  idol  of  the  army, 
and  the  hope  of  the  disloyal,  and  laid  plots  to  displace 
the  heir-apparent,  Solomon. 

No  doubt  David  was  aware  of  the  change,  heard 
echoes  of  the  taunts  flung  at  his  feeble  government. 


6o 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


But  heart  and  arm  were  broken.  All  bold  sense  of 
righteousness  was  lost.  His  misery  under  the  shadow 
of  the  past,  and  the  threatening  changes  of  the  present, 
must  have  been  most  poignant.  May  God  have  mercy 
on  him  ! 

Psalm  xli. 

gives  us  a  glimpse  of  his  sorrows  at  this  time.  He 
pronounces  his  blessing  on  the  man  who  considers  and 
pities  the  miserable,  the  unfortunate  sufferers. 

"  Blessed  is  he  that  considereth  the  miserable.'' 
"  Heal  my  soul ;  for  I  have  sinned  against  Thee." 

He  complains  of  the  popular  discontent  and  of 
disloyal  subjects  : 

"  Mine  enemies  say  evil  of  me : 

When  will  he  die  and  his  name  have  perished  ?  " 

Already  some  of  his  trusted  counsellors  have  broken 
off  from  him.  Perhaps  it  is  Ahithophel ;  for  whenever 
Absalom  gives  the  signal  of  insurrection,  Ahithophel 
—once  one  of  David's  closest  friends  and  advisers — is 
found  to  have  left  Jerusalem,  and  forthwith  joins  the 
Pretender's  cause. 

This  trusted  but  treacherous  counsellor  has  hidden 
his  disloyalty  under  fair  and  fawning  words  (ver.  6). 

"  And  if  he  come  to  see  me  he  speaketh  vanity ; 

When  he  goeth  abroad  he  speaketh  of  it "  (of  his 
condition). 

"  Together  against  me  do  all  they  that  hate  me  w^hisper, 
Against  me  do  they  devise  evil  for  me." 

There  is  good  reason  for  believing  that  all  these 


PSALMS  OF  A  ROYAL  FUGLTLVE.  6i 


years  David  was  suffering  from  some  serious  illness 
that  hindered  him  from  performing  his  kingly  functions. 
Perhaps  it  was  this  disease  that  prevented  him  from 
sitting  at  the  gate,  and  accounted  for  his  feeble  govern- 
ment. At  any  rate  his  enemies  made  capital  out  of  it, 
predicting  and  hoping  for  his  speedy  death. 

"A  thing  of  Belial"  {i.e.,  some  shocking  thing)  "  they  say  is 
poured  out  upon  him  ; 
And  now  that  he  lieth  he  shall  rise  up  no  more." 
"Yea,  mine  own  familiar  friend,  whom  I  trusted, 
\        Who  did  eat  of  my  bread, 

Hath  lifted  up  his  heel  against  me." 

"  But  Thou,  O  Jehovah,  be  gracious  unto  me." 

The  fact  that  he  fled  whenever  his  son  raised  the 
standard  of  rebellion  shows  that  he  had  known  how 
powerful  Absalom's  party  was.  He  knew  the  mine 
was  laid  and  ready  for  the  match.  How  he  wished 
he  could  escape  from  it  all ! 

It  is  all  written  (^pace  Robertson  Smith)  in  the 
agonizings  of 

Psalm  lv. 

Tired  of  all  the  vigilance  and  strife  of  party,  he 
cries — 

"  Oh  that  I  had  wings  like  the  dove. 

Then  would  I  fly  away  and  be  at  rest. 
Lo,  then  would  I  flee  afar  ofl", 
I  would  lodge  in  the  wilderness. 

Again,  referring,  probably,  to  the  fawning  but  false 
loyalty  of  Ahithophel,  he  declares  (ver.  12) — 


62 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


"  It  is  not  an  enemy  that  reproacheth  m-e ; 
Then  I  might  bear  it : 
But  thou  art  a  man  mine  equal, 

My  familiar  and  well  known  friend  ; 
We  were  wont  to  take  sweet  counsel  together, 

To  walk  to  the  house  of  God  among  the  festal  throng." 

Then  addressing  himself,  he  calls  upon  his  heart  to 
(ver.  22) —  / 

"  Cast  thy  burden  upon  Jehovah, 
And  He  shall  sustain  thee." 

Spies  are  in  every  town,  ready  for  Absalom's  signal. 
He  pretends  to  have  a  religious  vow  which  requires 
him  to  go  to  Hebron,  and  immediately  sets  up  his 
standard  as  king. 

The  evil  news  soon  reaches  Jerusalem,  and  at  once, 
discouraged,  broken-hearted,  forsaken,  David  gives  it 
all  up  without  striking  a  blow.  Now  he  will  take 
wings  as  a  dove,  will  fly  away  and  be  at  rest. 

The  story  of  his  flight  is  told  with  great  pathos  and 
tenderness.  He  hurries  away  out  of  the  city  with  his 
bodyguard,  his  regiment  of  six  hundred  men. 

The  fugitive  procession  hastens  across  the  brook 
Kedron,  up  the  slopes  of  Olivet,  with  all  the  signs  of 
woe  and  grief ;  the  king  barefooted,  his  head  covered 
with  the  mantle  of  sorrow,  and  tears  falHng  hot  and 
fast — a  faint  forecast  of  David's  greater  Son,  who, 
one  thousand  years  later,  looked  down  from  the  summit 
of  this  path,  and  wept  over  the  city  that  rejected  Him. 

Hushai,  one  of  his  privy  councillors,  is  sent  back  to 
feign  allegiance  to  the  Pretender  and  delay  the  rebel 


PSALMS  OF  A  ROYAL  FUGITIVE. 


63 


army's  pursuit  of  the  fugitives.  They  have  rounded 
the  shoulder  of  the  hill,  when  Ziba  comes  from  the 
stronghold  of  Mephibosheth  with  the  present  of  supplies 
of  food  and  fruit.  As  they  hurry  along  a  ridge  with  a 
deep  gorge  on  one  side  and  a  higher  ridge  on  the 
other,  Shimei,  a  still  bitter  remnant  of  Saul's  family, 
keeps  pace  with  him,  from  the  heights  flings  down 
stones  and  curses  at  the  head  of  the  exiled  king.  He 
curses  him  as  only  an  Oriental  can  curse.  Abishai 
would  make  short  work  of  him,  but,  with  a  strange 
humility  and  submissive  meekness,  David  says,  "  Let 
him  curse;"  as  if  these  curses  were  partially  merited, 
as  if  David  felt  their  justice. 

It  was  a  dreary  march — the  saddest  journey  in  all 
David's  life — a  march  away  from  home  and  throne  and 
a  nation's  allegiance,  away  to  his  old  haunts  in  the 
wilderness,  to  be  chased  and  hunted  by  his  own  son, 
the  ungrateful  usurper,  as  he  had  been  by  Saul  of 
yore. 

Absalom  has  hurried  to  Jerusalem,  has  called  a 
council,  and  asked  advice.  Ahithophel  would  press 
on  in  the  track  of  the  fugitives  and  catch  them  weak 
and  helpless.  Hushai,  the  secret  agent  of  David, 
advises  delay,  on  the  plea  of  organizing  a  more  power- 
ful force  ;  and  his  advice  is  taken.  A  secret  and  swift 
message  is  sent  in  hot  haste  to  David,  to  bid  him  hurry 
forward  across  the  Jordan.  The  message  reaches  him 
at  night,  and  he  speeds  on,  never  resting  till  he  gets  to 
Mahanaim  across  the  Jordan — a  famous  spot  in  Jacob's 
Ufe,  and  now  a  fortified  city. 


64 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


Psalms  hi.  and  iv. 

belong  to  this  period.  The  one  is  a  Morning  and 
the  other  an  Evening  Hymn.  Psalm  iii.  is  probably 
the  product  of  one  of  those  mornings  after  he  had 
fled  from  his  son,  and  before  the  fatal  battle  at 
Ephraim.  In 

Psalm  iil 

David  pours  out  his  sorrows  in  humble  trust : 

"  Lord,  how  numerous  are  mine  adversaries  ! 
Many  are  they  that  rise  up  against  me." 

Many  there  are  who  fling  the  malicious  gibe  at  him : 

"  *  There  is  no  help  for  hi?n  in  God' 

"  But  Thou,  O  Jehovah,  art  a  shield  about  me. 

He  has  travelled  with  bowed  head  : 

*'  But  Thou  art  the  hfter  up  of  mine  head." 

"  Even  from  His  holy  mountain  He  will  send  help.' 

He  had  encamped  the  previous  night  among  the 
hills,  amid  many  perils — perils  of  pursuers,  perils  of 
spies,  perils  of  traitors  (ver.  5).  The  unsleeping  God 
had  been  his  only  protection. 

"  I  laid  me  down  and  slept : 

I  waked,  for  Jehovah  sustaineth  me." 

This  security  gives  him  courage  : 

"  I  will  not  be  afraid  of  ten  thousand  of  the  people 

Which  have  set  themselves  against  me  round  about." 


PSALMS  OF  A  ROYAL  FUGITIVE. 


65 


Psalm  iv. 

begins  with  an  appeal  to  God  for  some  response,  some 
sign  of  care  : 

"When  I  cry,  answer  me,  O  God  of  my  righteousness. 
Thou  hast  enlarged  me  in  distress." 

In  my  sorrows  and  misfortunes,  in  my  flight  and 
sufferings,  Thou  hast  waked  me  from  my  horrid 
slumber  of  soul  As  Richter  says :  "  The  canary- 
bird  sings  sweeter  the  longer  it  has  been  trained  in 
a  darkened  cage." 

Then  he  recalls  the  persecutions  he  had  suffered,  the 
treacherous  Ahithophel,  the  curses  of  Shimei,  and,  in 
imagination,  he  addresses  them  and  remonstrates 
with  them  : 

"  Ye  sons  of  men  "  [a  phrase  applied  only  to  men  of  rank  and 
power],  "  how  long  will  ye  turn  my  glory  to  shame?" 

How  long  will  ye  blacken  my  character  with  slander 
and  falsehoods  ? 

Perhaps  addressing  himself,  or  possibly  his  fainting 
followers : 

"  Stand  in  awe  and  sin  not : 

Commune  with  your  heart  on  your  bed  and  be  still." 

Trust  in  God  and  do  the  right. 

"  Many  say,  '  Who  will  show  us  any  good? ' " 

His  followers  are  half  despairing,  are  ready  to  give 
up  the  struggle.  Whafs  the  good  of  if  all?^'  many  of 
them  say.    His  answer  is  a  mighty  prayer — a  prayer 

5 


66 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


that  bids  the  faint  hearts  look  up  higher  than  man  and 
seek  God's  favour.    There  is  good  there. 

"  Lift  Thou  upon  us  the  light  of  Thy  countenance,  O 
Jehovah." 

The  gladness  which  he  feels  (ver.  7)  now  that  God's 
loving  presence  has  been  restored  to  him,  this  gladness 
is  better  than  his  gratification  when  Ziba  brought  large 
supplies  of  corn  and  wine  to  the  royal  fugitives. 

It  is  evening : 

"  In  peace,  at  once  will  I  lay  me  down  and  sleep : 

For  Thou,  Jehovah,  alone  makest  me  to  dwell  in  safety." 

And  so  again,  in  the  midst  of  pursuing  perils,  he  casts 
all  his  care  on  Jehovah,  pillows  his  head  on  the  Divine 
providence,  and,  committing  himself  to  the  unslumbering 
God,  lies  down  to  a  peaceful  sleep. 

When  his  forces  meet  the  rebel  army,  the  latter  are 
utterly  routed,  the  Pretender  caught  in  a  tree  in  the 
forest  and  then  slain.  David  returns  to  Jerusalem, 
and  to  his  throne  ;  and  his  heart  is  made  happy  in  the 
thought  that  his  son  Solomon  is  to  succeed  him,  happy 
in  that  son's  wisdom,  and  happy  that  Solomon  will 
build  the  Temple  which  he  himself  had  longed  to  erect 
for  God. 


VII. 


SONGS  OF  SOLOMON. 
Psalms  Ixxii.,  xlv. 

SOLOMON  does  not  seem  to  have  inherited  his 
father's  poetic  gifts.  The  age  of  heroic  enterprise, 
which  always  bursts  into  song,  passed  now  into  a  period 
of  quiet  and  reflection.  Not  a  Httle  Hterature  is  ascribed 
to  Solomon ;  but  little  or  none  of  it  has  any  touch 
of  David's  poetic  fire.  The  son's  special  literary  gift 
was  the  creation  of  proverbs,  proverbs  that  contain 
tit-bits  of  wisdom,  that  are  the  compressed  results  of 
experience. 

He  is  said  to  have  composed  and  collected  three 
thousand  of  these  proverbs,  and  of  that  number  we 
have  a  fraction  in  our  Book  of  Proverbs.  His  proverbs 
can  scarcely  be  called  poetry,  although  they  are  com- 
posed in  rhythmic  form.  They  are,  like  Pope's  Essay 
on  Man,  didactic  lines  arranged  antithetically,  without 
fire  and  passion,  and  aiming  only  at  moral  effect. 

We  hear  of  him  having  composed  a  thousand  and 
five  songs,  but  of  these,  whatever  they  may  have  been, 
we  have  only  two  or  three.  His  fame  rests,  not  on  any 
poetic  gifts,  but  on  his  knowledge  and  wisdom. 


68 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


Psalm  lxxii. 

crystallizes  a  great  amount  of  Solomon's  life.  We 
shall  find,  as  we  study  it,  that  a  greater  than  Solomon 
is  here  "  in  dim  prophetic  outHne ;  that  the  Ideal  King 
who  was  yet  to  come  hovers  above  and  beyond  the 
figure  of  Solomon.  But  Solomon  is  evidently  the  first 
subject  of  the  Psalm.  The  writer  is  probably  some 
sacred  Psalmist  of  his  reign  who  celebrates  the  far- 
reaching  sway,  the  wisdom,  and  the  magnificence  of 
Solomon.  It  is  a  "Song  of  Solomon,"  although 
perhaps  not  composed  by  him.  It  is  arranged  in 
couplets,  which  are  balanced  and  formal,  after  the 
manner  of  the  Book  of  Proverbs.  Every  verse  is 
radiant  with  allusions  to  the  glories  of  Solomon's 
reign. 

"  O  God,  give  Thy  judgments  unto  the  king, 

And  Thy  righteousness  unto  the  king's  son," 

calls  us  back  to  a  memorable  and  dramatic  incident  in 
Solomon's  reign. 

It  was  at  his  great  coronation  ceremonial,  when  he 
marched  to  the  sacred  Gibeon,  and  offered  an  enormous 
sacrifice. 

There,  in  a  night  vision,  God  comes  to  him  and 
bids  the  young  king  make  a  choice  of  any  great  gift  he 
desires.  "  Ask  what  I  shall  give  thee^  "I  am  but  a 
httle  child,"  he  says — and  he  is  only  twenty;  'T  know 
not  how  to  go  out  or  come  in.  Give,  therefore,  Thy 
servant  an  understanding  heart  to  judge  Thy  people, 
that  I  may  discern  between  good  and  bad." 


SONGS  OF  SOLOMON. 


69 


It  is  a  noble  prayer  for  a  young  man  to  make,  and 
his  very  asking  for  wisdom  shows  that  he  already  had 
wi«dom  in  embryo. 

God  commends  the  wish,  and,  seeing  he  has  not 
asked  riches,  as  he  might  have  done,  or  long  life,  as  he 
might  have  done,  wisdom  will  be  liberally  bestowed, 
and,  in  its  train,  riches  and  long  life  too.  He  has 
sought  first  of  all  God's  kingdom ;  wisdom  and  all  else 
will  be  added  to  it. 

Here  in  ver.  I  of  this  Psalm  we  have  the  echo  of 
that  young  king's  coronation  prayer  : 

"  O  God,  give  Thy  judgments  unto  the  king, 

And  Thy  righteousness  unto  the  king's  son." 

In  ver.  2 — 

"  May  he  judge  Thy  people  with  righteousness, 
And  Thine  afflicted  with  judgment  " — 

we  are  reminded  of  a  striking  instance  of  the  sagacity 
which  he  displayed  while  still  so  young. 

Two  women  appealed  to  him  as  he  sat  at  his  court 
at  the  gate.  Each  brought  an  infant  boy,  one  living, 
and  the  other  dead ;  born  about  the  same  time,  and  in 
the  same  house.  One  charged  the  other  with  having 
overlain  her  child,  and,  finding  it  dead,  with  having 
exchanged  it  for  the  living  baby  by  stealth.  Both 
claimed  the  living  one  :  who  was  to  be  believed  ?  It 
was  a  splendid  stroke  of  sagacity  to  apply  a  test  which 
would  reveal  the  true  mother's  heart. 

He  bade  one  of  his  soldiers  divide  the  living  child  in 
two,  and  ^ive  a  half  to  each.    In  an  instant  the  true 


70 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


mother's  love  showed  itself.  O  my  lord,  give  her  the 
living  child,  and  by  no  means  slay  it."  Solomon's 
device  had  served  its  purpose ;  that  was  the  mother 
who  spoke,  and,  using  her  own  words,  but  now  about 
herself,  he  says  to  his  soldiers,  "  Give  her  the  living 
child,  and  in  no  wise  slay  it :  she  is  the  mother 
thereof." 

This  was  an  instance  of  the  prayer  of  the  second 
verse  of  the  Psalm  : 

"  May  he  decide  the  cause  of  Thy  people  with  righteous- 
ness, 

And  of  Thine  afflicted  with  judgment ;  " 
and  again  ver.  4  : 

"  May  he  judge  the  afflicted  of  the  people, 
Save  the  sons  of  the  poor, 
And  crush  the  oppressor  ;  " 

and  then  in  ver.  5, — as  if  referring  to  the  effect  of  his 
sagacious  decision  about  the  two  children,  when,  as  we 
are  told,  "all  Israel  heard  of  the  judgment,  and  they 
feared  the  king  " — 

"  (So  that)  they  fear  Thee  as  long  as  the  sun  endureth. 

Solomon's  reign  was  a  period  of  peace  and  pro- 
sperity. He  had  no  long  wars  Hke  David's  ;  and  his 
commercial  success  combined  with  the  thirty  or  more 
years'  peace  to  make  the  people  happy  and  prosperous. 

"  May  the  mountains  bring  forth  peace  to  the  people." 
"  Let  him  be  as  rain  coming  down  upon  the  mown  grass." 

His  rule  was  to  come  to  the  war-wearied  nation  like 
rain  on  mown  grass^  Hke  showers  that  water  the  earth. 


SO//GS  OF  SOLOMON. 


71 


He  had  extended  the  realm  as  left  by  his  father  until 
now  his  rule  was  acknowledged  from  the  Mediterranean 
on  the  west,  to  the  bank  of  the  great  river  Euphrates 
OH  the  east ;  and  from  Damascus  on  the  north,  to  the 
"  stream  of  Egypt "  on  the  south.  These  seemed  to 
the  Jews  almost  the  utmost  ends  of  the  earth.  Hence 
the  prayer  : 

"  Let  him  have  dominion  from  sea  to  sea." 

"  Before  him  let  the  inhabitants  of  the  wilderness  bow." 

In  the  first  clause  of  ver.  10 — 

"  Let  the  kings  of  Tarshish  and  the  isles  render  gifts  " — 

we  are  reminded  of  the  great  commercial  enterprises  in 
which  Solomon  engaged. 

The  Phoenicians  had  always  been  the  great  sea- 
faring race  of  the  Mediterranean,  had  built  up  an 
immense  shipping  trade.  Besides  being  sailors,  they 
were  also  skilful  artisans.  David  had  drawn  his 
skilled  workmen  from  Tyre  when  he  built  his  palace. 
And  this  relation  between  the  two  countries  became 
more  intimate  under  Solomon. 

The  Jews  thus  far  had  been  purely  an  agricultural 
people,  forbidden  to  engage  in  commerce.  But  now 
Solomon  joined  with  Hiram,  King  of  Tyre,  in  his 
shipping  enterprises.  A  numerous  fleet  of  merchant- 
men traded  with  Cyprus,  Sicily,  Malta,  and  the  north 
of  Africa.  A  new  country,  also,  had  been  discovered, 
which  excited  the  Phoenician  merchants  with  visions  of 
wealth  and  pleasure,  much  as  the  discovery  of  America 
inspired  and  enriched  the  Old  World. 


72 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


It  was  Tarshish,  a  southern  section  of  Spain,  where 
they  founded  a  colony,  and  from  which  they  shipped 
precious  metals,  the  richest  ores,  gold,  silver,  iron,  lead, 
even  the  anchors  being  sometimes  made  of  silver  to 
save  freight.  These  ships  of  Hiram  and  Solomon 
sailed  through  the  "  Pillars  of  Hercules"  at  Gibraltar 
out  into  the  Atlantic,  up  to  the  mouth  of  the  Tartessus 
or  Guadalquivir.  Some  conjecture  that  the  Phoenician 
ships  may  have  come  across  the  Bay  of  Biscay  and  as 
far  as  the  shores  of  Britain,  but  such  is  nothing  better 
than  a  speculation.  From  the  south  of  Spain,  and 
then  from  Sicily,  Malta,  Cyprus, — from  "Tarshish 
and  the  Isles," — rich  gifts  and  precious  products  were 
shipped,  and  the  palaces  of  Tyre  and  Jerusalem  grew 
gorgeous  with  the  gold  and  silver,  the  woods  and 
spices  from  the  West. 

Solomon  had  also  a  harbour  opened  jn  the  Red  Sea, 
which  he  visited  in  person,  and  from  which  voyages 
were  made  to  the  far-distant  Ophir.  Ophir  is  now 
generally  believed  to  be,  not  where  Rider  Haggard 
has  placed  King  Solomon^ s  MineSy  but  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Indus.  The  imports  they  brought  back  were 
of  Indian  origin,  and  bore  Indian  (Sanskrit)  names. 
They  included  ivory,  apes,  peacocks,  and  the  almug 
wood.  Besides  these,  immense  quantities  of  gold — 
four  hundred  and  twenty  talents — were  transferred  to 
Jerusalem  to  adorn  palace  and  Temple  and  add  to  the 
gorgeous  magnificence  of  Solomon's  court. 

Besides  his  shipping  enterprises,  he  carried  on  a 
land  traffic  with  Arabia.     It  was  from  this  country 


SONGS  OF  SOLOMON. 


73 


that  he  received  his  supplies  of  spices,  of  cassia  (a 
sort  of  cinnamon),  of  aloe,  of  myrrh,  of  spikenard, 
and  of  other  aromatic  spicery,  to  which  we  find 
frequent  reference  in  the  Solomonic  writings. 

With  Egypt  also  he  carried  on  a  brisk  trade,  pur- 
chasing many  horses  and  chariots,  for  which  that 
country  was  famous.  Huge  caravans  transported  them 
across  the  desert.  At  his  zenith  Solomon  had  four 
thousand  two  hundred  horses,  and  one  thousand  four 
hundred  chariots  (three  horses  in  each).  In  those 
richly-chased  and  splendidly-coloured  chariots  he  was 
carried  by  swift  horses,  attended  by  a  train  of  archers 
remarkable  for  handsome  looks. 

In  such  luxurious  style  he  drove  to  his  well-watered 
garden  at  Etam,  or  in  gorgeous  palanquin  was  carried 
to  his  summer  retreats  in  the  cool  hills  of  wooded 
Lebanon.  Elsewhere  we  have  allusions  to  his  houses 
and  vineyards,  his  orchards  and  pools,  his  men-singers 
and  women-singers.  By  sea  and  by  land,  by  a  fleet 
of  ships  and  by  long  lines  of  camels,  the  precious 
products  of  Spain,  Sicily,  Egypt,  Arabia,  and  India, 
were  brought  to  enrich  and  beautify  Solomon's  palaces. 
Hence  the  line  : 

"Let  the  Kings  of  Tarshish  and  the  Isles  render  gifts." 

But  the  second  part  of  ver.  lO  points  to  the  out- 
standing proof  of  his  fame. 

"  Let  the  Kings  of  Sheba  and  Saba  offer  presents." 

Rumours  of  his  wisdom  and  of  his  magnificence  had 
spread  far  and  near,  and  had  reached  Sheba,  in  the 


74 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


south  of  Arabia.  The  Queen  of  Sheba  had  heard  of 
Solomon's  brilHant  wit,  of  his  refined  wisdom,  of  his 
wise  sayings  and  sagacious  answers  to  deep  questions. 
This  Arabian  queen,  evidently  a  woman  of  exceptional 
earnestness,  courage,  and  capacity,  resolved  to  break 
through  the  seclusion  of  her  royal  home,  and  brave  the 
dangers  of  a  desert  journey,  in  order  to  see  this  paragon 
of  wisdom  and  of  splendour  at  Jerusalem.  She  came 
to  Jerusalem  with  a  very  great  train,  with  camels 
that  bare  spices  and  very  much  gold  and  precious 
stones." 

He  showed  her  his  palace  and  lion-throne  of  ivory 
and  gold,  his  hall  of  cedar  where  he  sat  as  judge, 
his  harps  framed  in  aromatic  wood,  his  goblets  and 
vessels  of  pure  gold,  his  Egyptian  chariots  and  his 
noble  guardsmen.  She  also  tested  his  wisdom  by 
intellectual  riddles,  by  hard  questions,  and  he  told 
her  all  her  questions."  She  opened  out  her  mind, 
"communed  with  him  of  all  that  was  in  her  heart;" 
and  ''there  was  not  anything  which  he  told  her 
not." 

When  she  discovered  all  his  wisdom,  saw  the 
splendours  of  his  palace  and  capital,  she  said  that 
the  reports  she  had  heard  she  had  not  credited,  but 
now  she  finds  half  had  not  been  told  her.  She 
was  so  amazed  that  "  there  was  no  more  spirit  left 
in  her."  Happy,  she  said,  happy  were  the  servants 
and  subjects  and  councillors  around  such  a  king : 
blessed  the  God  that  delighted  in  him. 

Solomon  gave  her  on  her  departure  the  best  presents 


SO.VGS  OF  SOLOMON. 


75 


from  his  stores,  in  return  for  the  gifts  of  gold  and 
spices  and  precious  stones  which  she  had  brought 
with  her. 

Hence  the  sentence, 

"  Let  the  Sovereigns  of  Sheba  and  Saba  offer  presents. 
Let  all  nations  serve  him."" 

Then,  in  succeeding  verses,  follows  a  picture  of  a 
land  where  royal  beneficence  (ver.  12)  rescues  the 
poor,  helps  the  helpless  and  afflicted  ;  (ver.  13)  spares 
the  weak;  (ver.  14)  rights  the  wrongs  of  the  oppressed, 
and  values  the  blood  of  the  injured. 

So  that  (ver.  15)  many  another  offers  gifts  of 
gratitude  to  this  beneficent  king,  as  gold  came  to  him 
from  Sheba,  and  men  pray  for  him  and  bless  him  all 
the  day.  There  are  (ver.  16)  abundant  har^'ests,  fields 
of  corn  on  the  mountain  terraces  that  wave  and  rustle 
like  the  forests  of  Lebanon  under  the  breeze.  It  is 
a  picture  of  fertility,  peace,  and  prosperity,  while  the 
people  multiply  and  grow  strong;  and  (ver.  17)  the 
fame  of  the  illustrious  king  promises  to  last  for 
ever,  to  go  down  through  the  endless  generations  to 
come. 

(What  follows,  ''Blessed  be  Jehovah,"  etc.,  is  added 
by  the  editor  at  the  end  of  the  second  book  of 
Psalms.) 

Psalm  xlv. 

is  called  a  "  Song  of  loves,"  and  is  to  be  sung 
to  a  tune  entitled  ''Lilies."  It  is  a  Marriage  Song, 
and  celebrates  the   espousals  of  a  Jewish  king  with 


76 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


a  princess  of  some  foreign  country.  There  is  no 
one  whom  it  suits  so  well  as  Solomon;  and — while  of 
course  not  written  by  him — was  no  doubt  composed 
in  honour  of  his  marriage  with  the  daughter  of  a 
Pharaoh,  King  of  Egypt  (or  perhaps  with  the  daughter 
of  the  King  of  Tyre).  It  was  a  splendid  alHance  for 
him,  helping  to  raise  him  to  a  position  of  equaHty  with 
other  Oriental  potentates. 

The  writer  (ver.  i)  delights  to  have  such  a  good 
theme  for  his  song,  a  royal  ode,  that  makes  his  pen 
run  swift.  He  refers  (ver.  2)  to  Solomon's  beauty 
beyond  the  rest  of  men,  and  to  his  eloquent  lips  and 
golden,  gracious  speech.  Then  he  glances  at  his 
military  eminence  and  wide  sway : 

"  Gird  thy  sword  upon  thy  thigh,  O  mighty  one  ; 
Yea,  in  thy  majesty  ride  prosperously. 
Thine  arrows  are  sharp — people  fall  under  thee, 

They  are  sharp  in  the  heart  of  the  king's  enemies. 
Thy  throne,  O  God,  is  for  ever  and  ever, 

A  sceptre   of  righteousness   is  the   sceptre  of  Thy 
kingdom." 

Myrrh  and  aloes  and  cassia  perfume  all  his  garments 
(ver.  8),  and  music  steals  on  the  ear  out  of  the  ivory 
palaces. 

Kings'  daughters  (ver.  9) — Pharaoh's  and  Hiram's 
— are  among  his  loved  ones,  and  the  queen-consort 
stands  richly  clad  in  robes  gilt  with  the  gold  brought 
from  the  Indian  Ophir. 

In  ver.  10  he  bids  her  forget  her  own  native 
country  ; 


SOiVGS  OF  SOLOMON. 


77 


"  Forget  also  thine  own  people,  and  thy  father's  house, 

That  the  king  may  desire  thy  beauty." 
"  And  the  daughter  of  Tyre  shall  come  with  a  gift ; 

And  the  rich  among  the  people  shall  seek  thy  favour. 
All  glorious  is  the  king's  daughter  in  the  inner  palace, 

Of  thread  of  gold  is  her  clothing. 
On  tapestry  of  divers  colours  is  she  conducted  unto  the 
king; 

The  virgins  in  her  train,  her  companions,  are  brought 
unto  thee. 

They  are  conducted  with  joy  and  exultation  ; 
They  enter  into  the  king's  palace." 

Instead  of  her  father  and  relatives,  she  is  to  take 
her  children. 

"  Let  me  make  thy  name  known  through  all  generations  : 
Therefore  shall  the  people  give  thee  thanks  for  ever 
and  ever." 

But  though  Solomon  is  the  first  subject  of  these 
Psalms,  he  does  not  fill  all  the  splendid  outlines.  There 
is  history  in  these  Songs,  but  there  is  prophecy  too. 
We  know  that  the  Jews  looked  for  centuries  for  a 
glorious  sovereign  who  would  fulfil  all  their  hopes. 
These  hopes  are  rising  and  taking  shape  here.  They 
are  painting  the  ideal  portrait,  but  Solomon  does  not 
fill  it.  He  rose  to  magnificence  and  far-famed  wisdom, 
but  both  his  splendour  and  wisdom  were  shattered  by 
folly,  idolatry,  polygamy — and  he  fell,  and  in  his  fall 
showed  that  these  ideals  of  a  perfectly  wise,  perfectly 
noble,  perfectly  beneficent,  perfectly  glorious  and  ever- 
lasting king  were  not  to  be  realized  by  any  common 
human  being.    Hovering  behind  the  real  king  of  the 


78 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


time  rose  in  dim  outline  the  coming  Ideal,  the  longed- 
for  Deliverer,  the  Messiah  that  would  fulfil  all  their 
conceptions  and  aspirations. 

I  do  not  mean  that  these  seers  had  clear  notions 
who  their  Messiah  King  would  be.  At  this  stage 
the  vision  was  shadowy,  yet  it  was  there. 

Round  the  sufferings  of  David,  round  his  sorrows 
and  his  solitude,  rose  the  vision  of  the  sufferings  of  the 
coming  Ideal  Man  ;  and  the  rapt  language  of  the  half- 
conscious  prophet  transcends  David  and  fits  only  the 
Man  of  Sorrows ;  and  Christ  Himself  applies  the  words 
to  Himself : 

"My  God,  my  God,  why  hast  Thou  forsaken  Me?" 

So  of  Solomon  as  king.  The  words  that  took  their 
rise  in  the  glory  and  splendour  and  vast  dominion  of 
Solomon  far  transcend  the  first  subject,  rise  to  an 
Ideal  King,  and  are  true  only  of  one  King,  Christ. 
He  is  fairer  than  the  sons  of  men,  reigns  in  righteous- 
ness and  peace.  He  comes  down  like  showers,  etc. 
All  men  come  to  Him  and  bow  before  Him. 

"  Thy  throne  is  for  ever  and  ever." 


VIII. 


ODES   OF  VICTORY. 


Psalms  xlvi,,  xlviii.,  Ixxvi. 


WE  leap  across  an  interval  of  three  hundred 
years,  to  about  700  B.C. 
Solomon's  sumptuous  luxury  had  sapped  away  the 
vital  force  of  the  nation,  which  had  split  into  two, 
and  had  sunk  under  godless  kings  into  idolatry,  strife, 
and  bloody  war.  Hezekiah  on  his  accession  had  to 
dethrone  paganism  and  restore  the  service  of  God. 

The  Eastern  horizon  had  been  growing  dark  v;ith 
the  hosts  of  the  Assyrians  as  they  swept,  tide  after 
tide,  westwards  to  Palestine  and  Egypt.  Swaying 
between  alliance  with  Egypt  and  submission  to  Assyria, 
the  Jews  were    between  the  devil  and  the  deep  sea." 

Sennacherib  despatches  an  army,  led  by  two  officers 
and  his  cup-bearer  Rabshakeh,  to  capture  Jerusalem 
and  spoil  it  of  its  remaining  wealth.  They  send  a 
blasphemous  and  mocking  call  to  surrender.  Rabshakeh 
sarcastically  offers  Hezekiah  two  thousand  horses  if, 
indeed,  he  can  find  men  enough  to  ride  them.  Now 
with  jeers  at  their   religious  confi-dence,  now  with 


8o 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


threats  and  again  with  promises,  the  Assyrian  general 
demands  surrender. 

Hezekiah,  rending  his  clothes  and  wearing  sackcloth, 
sends  a  message  to  Isaiah,  telling  him  his  trouble  and 
fear,  and  bidding  him  cry  to  God  for  deliverance.  True 
to  his  unflinching  courage,  Isaiah  bids  the  king  be 
brave  and  firm,  for  the  enemy  will  be  diverted  by 
the  rumour  of  rebellion  in  their  own  Babylon. 

Now  Sennacherib  sends  an  insolent  letter  to  Heze- 
kiah, asking  whether  he  expects  his  God  to  protect 
him  when  so  many  other  cities  have  fallen  trusting  in 
their  gods.  Has  he  not  heard  of  the  fate  of  Haran 
and  Sepharvaim  and  others  ? 

And  Hezekiah  received  the  letter  and  read  it ;  and 
Hezekiah  went  up  into  the  house  of  the  Lord,  and 
spread  it  before  the  Lord." 

Then  comes  the  reply  that  God  has  heard  the  prayer, 
and  Isaiah  stands  forward  to  hurl  defiance  at  the 
enemy  around  the  walls  of  the  city.  With  dauntless 
eloquence  and  confidence  in  God  he  asks.  Do  they 
know  whom  they  have  been  reproaching,  that  they 
have  been  blaspheming  the  true  God  ?  They  have 
besieged  the  city  in  their  pride  of  conquest,  but  they 
shall  not  shoot  an  arrow,  nor  use  a  shield,  nor  raise  a 
defence ;  and  they  shall  return  by  the  way  they  came. 

These  were  brave  words,  for  Hezekiah  had  but  a  few 
infantry,  and  no  cavalry.  The  city  battlements  were 
weak,  its  treasure  exhausted,  while  below  the  walls 
were  gathered  mighty  bearded  warriors.  There  were 
ranks  of  bowmen,  and  regiments  of  cavalry  with  chariots 


ODES  OF  VICTORY. 


8i 


and  horses,  all  fearless  with  past  victories.  If  ever 
resistance  seemed  hopeless,  it  was  the  resistance  of  the 
besieged  within  the  ancient  capital  of  Solomon  and 
David. 

When  night  fell,  it  brought  little  sleep  to  the  besieged, 
you  may  be  sure.  Next  day  these  well-armed  and 
irresistible  Assyrians  would  scale  the  crumbling  walls 
and  sack  the  sacred  city. 

When  the  sun  rose  and  looked  upon  the  place  where 
yesterday  stood  an  irresistible  army,  the  whole  host, 
one  hundred  and  eighty-five  thousand,  lay  dead  on  the 
ground  ! 

"  Like  the  leaves  of  the  forest  when  Summer  is  green, 
That  host  with  their  banners  at  sunset  were  seen  ; 
Like  the  leaves  of  the  forest  when  Autumn  hath  blown, 
That  host  on  the  morrow  lay  wither'd  and  strown. 

"  For  the  Angel  of  Death  spread  his  wings  on  the  blast, 
And  breathed  in  the  face  of  the  foe  as  he  passed ; 
And  the  eyes  of  the  sleepers  wax'd  deadly  and  chill, 
And  their  hearts  but  once  heaved,  and  for  ever  grew 
still ! " 

We  do  not  know,  we  can  only  conjecture,  what  that 
natural  agent  was.  One  thinks  it  was  the  poisoning 
of  the  waters ;  another  suggests  a  storm ;  some  suppose 
a  simoom;  others  pestilent  vapours  from  a  volcanic 
eruption ;  but  Josephus,  followed  by  the  vast  majority, 
believes  it  to  have  been  a  pestilence.  Whatever  it  was, 
it  terrified  Sennacherib,  who,  we  know,  fled  precipitately 
to  his  own  eastern  home  at  Nineveh.  And  the 
mysterious  and  sudden  destruction  of  the  invader 

6 


82 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


Struck  awe  into  the  hearts  of  Hezekiah  and  his  people. 
What  sensations  they  must  have  had  of  mingled  fear 
and  triumph  as  daybreak  revealed  the  armed  thousands 
lying  stiffened  in  the  sleep  of  death ! 

No  wonder  if  this  event  fired  the  devout  imagination 
of  the  Jewish  poets,  produced  sacred  Odes  of  Triumph, 
and  crystallized  in  Hymns  of  Praise.  It  was  evidently 
this  event  which  gave  shape  to 

Psalm  lxxvi. 

This  Psalm,  written  probably  some  little  time  after 
the  destruction  of  Sennacherib,  and  after  he  had  with- 
drawn his  dreaded  forces  to  Assyria  again,  begins  by 
celebrating  Jerusalem  as  the  sacred  abode  of  Jehovah. 
There  He  is  known  and  there  is  His  tabernacle. 
Then  ver.  3  : 

There  brake  He  the  arrows  of  the  bow, 

Shield  and  sword  and  battle ; 
The  stout-hearted  have  been  spoiled, 

They  have  sunk  into  their  sleep, 
And  none  of  the  men  of  valour  have  found  their  hands. 

That  is,  those  who  stretched  out  their  hands  in  mocking 
defiance  of  God's  city  have  not  been  able  to  use  or 
raise  them. 

"  At  Thy  rebuke,  O  God  of  Jacob, 

Both  chariot  and  horses  were  cast  into  a  dead  sleep  " 

— overpowered  by  the  languor  and  lassitude  of  death. 
The  event,  no  doubt,  struck  awe  into  all  the  surround- 
ing nations  : 


MruiNT  HeRM( 

ODES  OF  VICTORY.   83 


" Thou,  even  Thou,  art  to  be  feared."  ^  '^-^^^VlS^^^ 
"  From  heaven  didst  Thou  cause  judgment  to  be  heard. 
The  earth  feared  and  was  still. 
For  the  u^rath  of  man  must  praise  Thee." 

That  is,  every  angry  attempt  of  men  to  defeat  God's  will 
is  turned  to  their  own  overthrow,  and  is  used  for  His 
glorious  ends.  And  these  last  feeble,  impotent  acts 
of  resistance  are  overruled  and  made  an  instrument 
for  a  Divine  work. 

Then  the  Psalmist  closes  with  another  call  to  hushed 
awe: 

"He  is  to  be  feared  by  the  kings  of  the  earth." 


Psalms  xlvi. — xlviii. 

are  also  the  product  of  this  event.  The  first  of  these 
is  the  chief  and  most  memorable  one.  The  other  two 
are  bursts  of  triumph,  with  few  direct  references  to 
the  event,  and  yet  coloured  by  the  glorious  deliverance. 
Psalm  xlvii.  is  one  repeated  shout  of  thanksgiving. 
There  is  reason  to  think  that  Psalm  xlviii.  was  meant 
to  be  used  in  the  Temple  service. 


Psalm  xlvl 

is  particularly  rich  in  reminiscences  of  the  event. 

"  God  is  our  refuge  and  stronghold, 
A  very  present  help  in  trouble." 

In  vv.  2  and  3  we  have  a  reflection  of  the  shaking 
of  the  nations  before  the  sweep  of  the  invading 
Assyrians.    It  is  in  metaphorical  language  :  the  earth 


84 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


changing,  the  mountains  removed  to  the  seas,  the 
floods  roaring  and  rising — yet  in  all  "  we  will  not 
fear." 

"  There  is  a  river  whose  streams  shall  make  glad  the  city 
of  God;" 

referring  to  the  fact  that  a  supply  of  water  had  been 
brought  within  the  walls  by  the  construction  of  an 
aqueduct  hidden  underground. 

"  God  is  in  the  midst  of  her:  she  shall  not  be  moved. 
God  shall  help  her  when  the  morning  dawns ;  " 

i.e.^  at  early  daybreak,  the  hour  of  the  discovery  of  the 
dread  slaughter. 

"  Nations  roared :  the  kingdoms  were  moved  ; 
He  uttered  His  voice — the  earth  melteth. 
Come,  behold  the  deeds  of  Jehovah, 

Who  hath  done  terrible  things  in  the  earth ; 
Who  stilleth  wars  to  the  ends  of  the  earth." 
"  Be  still,  and  know  that  I  am  God." 

This  Psalm  was  paraphrased  by  Luther  in  his  "  Ein 
feste  Burg,"  which  is  translated  for  us  in  the  well- 
known  Hnes,  "  A  safe  stronghold,"  etc.  This  was  the 
"  Marseillaise  of  the  Reformation."  In  the  dark 
Reformation  times  Luther  would  say  to  Melanchthon, 
^'Come,  Phihp,  let  us  sing  the  forty-sixth  Psalm." 
When  the  Protestant  cause  seemed  to  be  losing 
ground,  ^'  he  sang  it  to  the  lute  every  day,  standing 
at  the  window  and  looking  up  to  heaven." 

When  he  and  Melanchthon  and  others  were  sent 
into  banishment,  and  were  entering  Weimar  in  great 


ODES  OF  VICTORY. 


85 


despondency,  they  heard  a  girl  singing  this  Psalm. 
"Sing  on,  dear  daughter  mine,"  Melanchthon  said, 
"  thou  knowest  not  what  comfort  thou  bringest  to 
our  hearts." 

Gustavus  Adolphus  prepared  for  the  battle  of  Leipsic 
by  singing  this  Psalm  along  with  his  whole  army. 
Wesley  preached  on  it  when  a  shock  of  earthquake 
threw  London  into  terror  last  century.  The  people 
of  Moscow  used  this  Psalm  as  their  memorial  song  of 
triumph  for  that  night  on  which  twenty  thousand  of 
Napoleon's  horses  perished  by  frost,  and  the  French 
army  were  driven  back  by  an  unseen  hand  into  its 
disastrous  retreat.  It  has  nourished  the  Christian 
heroes  of  the  world,  and  may  well  nourish  us. 


IX. 


SONGS  IN-  A  STRANGE  LAND. 


Psalms  xlii.,  xliii.,  Ixxxiv.,  cii.,  cxxxvii. 


A HUNDRED  years  have  passed  since  the  tragic 
destruction  of  Sennacherib's  host  beside  the 
walls  of  Jerusalem,  and  during  that  period  the  Assyrian 
Empire  has  crumbled  to  insignificance. 

The  Babylonian  Empire  has  sprung  up  into  power 
and  splendour  in  its  place,  and  now  casts  its  dark 
shadow  over  surrounding  nations.  Nebuchadnezzar 
sweeps  westwards  like  an  irresistible  flood.  Egypt  is 
his  aim,  but  Palestine  lies  on  the  highway  to  the  Nile, 
is  in  league  with  the  King  of  Egypt,  and  must  be 
subdued  in  passing. 

The  Egyptian  host  anticipates  the  attack,  speeds 
eastwards  to  meet  the  army  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  and 
not  far  from  the  Euphrates  is  driven  back  in  defeat 
by  the  Assyrians. 

Like  a  pitiless  tide  they  roll  on.  The  people  every- 
where flee  to  their  fortified  cities,  and  even  the  Bedouins 
take  refuge  within  the  walls  of  Jerusalem.  King  after 
king  among  the  Jews  had  cast  off  God  and  God's  laws, 
and  now  doom  is  at  the  gate. 


SOXGS  IN  A  S7RAXGE  LAND. 


S7 


Jeremiah  foresees  that  submission  to  Babylon  is 
inevitable,  and  urged,  but  urges  in  vain,  that  terms  of 
peace  should  be  made  with  Nebuchadnezzar.  The 
invaders  enter  the  city,  fling  the  king,  Jehoiakim,  into 
fetters,  and  rifle  the  Temple,  from  which  many  of 
the  sacred  vessels  are  carried  as  plunder  to  deck 
Babylonian  palaces. 

Upon  the  untimely  death  of  Jehoiakim,  Jehoiachin 
(or  Jeconiah)  is  enthroned  ;  but  he  has  reigned  only 
three  months  when  the  Babylonian  forces  for  some 
reason  make  a  second  attack,  sack  the  city,  hack  off" 
the  golden  ornaments  from  the  Temple,  take  away 
extensive  and  precious  booty,  and  carry  off  the  king, 
his  wives,  the  queen-mother,  the  princes,  priests  and 
minstrels,  seven  thousand  warriors,  and  one  thousand 
skilled  workmen.  Altogether,  according  to  the  best 
account,  some  ten  thousand  captives  were  carried  off 
to  Babylon  at  this  time. 

Over  those  that  were  left  in  Palestine  Zedekiah 
was  set  king  as  vassal  to  Nebuchadnezzar.  He  made 
a  journey  to  Babylon  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance ; 
but  scarcely  had  he  returned,  when  he  set  up  a  flag  of 
rebellion,  in  company  with  neighbouring  nations,  and 
formed  an  alUance  with  Egypt.  It  was  against  the 
warnings  of  Jeremiah  that  this  fatal  step  had  been 
taken,  and  that  prophet  might  have  been  seen  in  the 
streets  of  Jerusalem  wearing  a  wooden  collar  round  his 
neck,  such  as  prisoners  were  compelled  to  wear.  This 
was  Jeremiah's  dramatic  way  of  foreshadowing  the 
approaching  captivity. 


88  ROMANCE  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


That  type,  the  wooden  collar,  was  soon  fulfilled. 
Nebuchadnezzar  marched  in  person  to  lay  siege  to 
Jerusalem.  It  was  a  crisis  so  terrible  and  so  momen- 
tous that  it  has  been  commemorated  ever  since  by  a 
Jewish  fast.  Forts  were  reared  beside  the  city,  and 
from  them  the  assailants  discharged  their  missiles. 
Battering  irams  shattered  the  walls.  Troops  hemmed 
in  the  people. 

The  siege  lasted  for  a  year  and  a  half  Within  the 
city  famine  and  disease  turned  the  fair  princes  and 
proud  people  into  walking  skeletons.  Jewish  ladies 
might  have  been  seen  sitting  in  splendid  robes  on  the 
refuse  heaps,  glad  if  they  could  pick  up  a  morsel  of 
food.  The  siege  of  Paris  had  no  horrors  to  equal  those 
of  the  siege  and  fall  of  Jerusalem.  Hunger  turned 
fathers  and  mothers  into  brutish  cannibals,  as  they 
devoured  their  own  starving  children. 

Yet  all  the  while,  in  the  very  Temple  erected  for 
the  worship  of  Jehovah,  might  have  been  seen  priests 
prostrate  before  the  rising  sun  ;  and  in  underground 
chambers  *  the  base  Egyptian  idols  were  receiving 
offerings  of  incense  from  the  Jewish  elders.  The 
people  seem  to  have  become  utterly  demoralized  and 
demented. 

One  midnight  in  July  587  B.C.,  under  the  covering 
of  the  darkness,  the  Babylonian  forces  made  a  breach 
in  the  walls,  stole  into  the  very  Temple  itself,  and,  ere 
morning  broke,  killed  the   occupants  of  the  sacred 


*  Stanley's  Jewish  Church,  sect.  xl. 


SONGS  IN  A  STRANGE  LAND. 


89 


courts,  the  false  priests  and  prophets  and  princes,  so 
that  ^'  the  virgin  marble  ran  red  like  a  rocky  winepress 
in  the  vintage." 

In  the  twilight  of  daybreak,  the  king  and  his  harem, 
in  mufQed  disguise,  escaped  by  a  secret  exit,  and  made 
for  those  very  scenes  beyond  Jordan  to  which  David 
had  hastened  at  the  rebellion  of  Absalom.  But  he . 
was  overtaken  and  carried  to  Nebuchadnezzar,  who, 
according  to  the  savage  Oriental  custom,  killed  his  sons 
in  their  father's  presence,  put  out  the  captive  king's 
eyes  and  took  him  to  Babylon,  where,  according  to 
tradition,  he  was  forced  to  toil  in  a  mill  as  a  slave. 

Now  had  come  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem.  All 
the  sacred  vessels  that  were  left  from  other  devasta- 
tions, the  brazen  laver,  even  the  two  famous  pillars 
with  their  ornaments,  were  collected  and  removed ;  the 
captives  were  secured ;  and  then  the  whole  city.  Temple, 
palace,  public  buildings,  all  were  deliberately  fired,  and 
Jerusalem  was  in  flames.  The  savage  cruelty  of  the 
spoilers  is  beyond  description,  and  makes  terrible  read- 
ing. We  are  told  that  even  the  royal  tombs  were 
rifled,  and  the  dead  kings  given  to  the  birds  of  prey, 
and  soon  jackals  were  wandering  even  over  the  sacred 
hill  of  Zion. 

And  as  the  captive  host  were  conducted  to  their 
foreign  home,  the  Ammonite  and  Moabite  flung  at 
them  derisive  shouts  of  delight.  Even  their  nearest 
kinsmen,  the  descendants  of  Esau,  the  Edomites,  had 
gloated  over  the  siege  of  Jerusalem,  crying,  Down 
with  it !   Raze  it  even  to  the  ground."    They  caught 


90 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


any  Jewish  fugitive  that  attempted  to  escape,  and  held 
wild  revels  on  the  ashes  of  the  fallen  city.  Then  and 
ever  after  the  curses  of  the  Jews  fell  on  these  Edomites 
the  very  songs  of  the  captives  in  Babylon  break  out 
as  do  the  prophets,  into  denunciations  of  them.  The 
second  Isaiah  pictures  the  Messiah  Conqueror  as  coming 
knee-deep  in  Edomite  blood." 

This  was  the  second  or  third  band  of  captives  that 
had  been  marched  off  to  Babylon.  The  present  one 
was  smaller  and  less  important,  for  the  previous  depor- 
tation had  taken  away  most  of  the  nobles  and  skilled 
workmen :  and  amongst  the  melancholy  band  had  been 
Ezekiel,  and  Daniel  with  his  three  companions. 

We  can  well  imagine  these  captive  hosts  lingering 
on  the  heights  of  Hermon,  on  the  ridge  of  Mizar,  and 
looking  back  with  unutterable  grief  and  yearning  on 
their  beloved  city  and  Temple  and  home,  now  blackened 
ruins,  and  now  seen  for  the  last  time.  We  can  well 
imagine  their  idolatrous  captors,  or  the  insulting 
Edomites,  taunting  the  pious  with  the  derisive  ques- 
tion, ''Where  is  your  God  now?"  "What  can  He 
do  for  you  now  ? " 

It  was  this  scene  which  probably  gave  us 

Psalms  xlii.  and  xliii. 

which  are  really  one  Psalm. 

It  is  composed  by  one  of  the  ''Sons  of  Korah," 
one  of  the  leaders  of  sacred  song,  one  of  the  Temple 
Psalmists.  It  crystallizes  his  emotions  as  he  pauses 
on  the  eastern  hills  and  takes  his  farewell  look  at  his 


SONGS  IN  A  STRANGE  LAND. 


91 


darling  city.  Whether  or  not  it  was  written  there  and 
then,  it  pictures  the  scene  and  the  thoughts  of  the 
pious  minstrel  as  he  looks  back  from  the  Hermon  hills. 
It  falls  into  three  sections  or  strophes,  each  passing 
through  the  same  ebb  and  flow  of  faith,  and  each 
ending  with  the  singer's  assurance  to  his  own  heart  : 

"  Why  art  thou  cast  down,  O  my  soul  ? 
Hope  in  God." 

It  begins  with  the  picture  of  the  wild  gazelle  of  the 
forests,  panting  in  the  summer  heat  for  the  fresh,  cool 
water  of  Jordan.  He  may  have  seen  it  as  he  passed 
across  the  river. 

"  'Xs  the  hart  panteth  after  the  water-brooks, 
So  panteth  my  soul  after  Thee,  O  God," 

after  God's  house  and  city  and  immediate  presence. 

"When  shall  I  come  back  and  appear  before  God  ? " 

He  has  mourned  and  wept  day  and  night,  but  his 
captors  ask,  derisively,  "  Where  is  thy  God  now  ? " 
Then  (ver.  4)  he  recalls  in  his  grief  how  he  used  to  go 
with  the  crowd  of  worshippers  to  the  Temple. 

"  How  I  passed  with  the  (festal)  throng, 

How  I  led  them  in  procession  to  the  House  of  God, 
A  multitude  keeping  Holy  Day." 

He  looks  back  from  the  eastern  hills  (ver.  6)  : 

"  I  remember  thee  from  the  land  of  Jordan, 

And  from  the  Hermons,  from  the  mountain  Mizar." 

His  misfortunes,  descending  upon  him  in  quick  succes- 
sion, he  Hkens  to  the  torrents  (ver.  7),  to  the  floods 


92 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


that  answer  each  other  with  their  rush  and  roar.  Yet 
(ver.  8)  Jehovah  is  with  him,  and  gives  him  a  song  in 
the  night.  Why  go  in  sorrow,  then  (ver.  9)  ?  And 
again  hope  triumphs  in  the  power  of  faith. 

He  prays,  in  the  third  strophe,  that  God  will  judge 
between  him  and  the  cruel  conquerors,  that  He  will 
not  cast  him  off  (xliii.  2),  that  He  will  send  out  light 
and  truth,  and  bring  the  captives  back  to  the  holy 
mountain,  to  the  holy  altar,  to  the  harp  and  the  song 
of  God  in  His  House.  Three  times  he  cries  : 
*'  Why  art  thou  cast  down,  O  my  soul  ? 

Hope  in  God :  for  I  shall  yet  praise  Him, 
The  Health  of  my  countenance  and  my  God." 

Now  we  pass  with  these  captive  bands  to  the  banks 
of  the  Euphrates,  leaving  a  few  inhabitants  in  the 
sacred  land  to  till  the  soil  and  keep  the  vineyards. 
We  are  now  in  Babylon  the  great,  in  the  centre  of 
a  vast  plain,  and  beside  the  fourth  river  of  the  Garden 
of  Eden.  The  city  is  fifty-six  miles  in  circumference 
(according  to  Herodotus),  larger  even  than  London. 
The  wall  surrounding  it,  three  hundred  feet  high,  is  a 
broad  terrace  on  its  summit,  as  wide  as  Westminster 
Bridge.  Its  streets  are  rectangular  (like  American 
cities)  and  abut  on  the  river.  It  has  ten  brazen  gates, 
and  two  hundred  and  eighty  towers,  ranged  at  intervals 
round  the  walls.  Its  Great  Palace  is,  a  city  within 
a  city,"  seven  miles  round,  has  mountain  gardens, 
hanging  gardens,"  constructed  for  the  delectation  of 
the  Median  princess  who  is  now  the  queen. 

The  gigantic  temple  of  Bel,  or  Baal,  rose  as  high 


SOJVGS  IN  A  STRANGE  LAND. 


93 


and  square  as  the  Pyramids.  The  name  of  Nebuchad- 
nezzar, who  built  both  temple  and  palace,  may  still  be 
seen  on  the  bricks  and  sculptured  fragments  that  are 
found  among  the  ruins. 

It  must  have  been  a  strange  scene  to  these  Jewish 
captives.  Their  own  court  and  buildings  at  Jerusalem 
were  as  children's  playthings  compared  to  Babylon. 
All  were  strange  :  the  gorgeous  cavalry,  the  chariots- 
and-four,  the  soldiers'  scarlet  costumes  and  shields 
and  burnished  helmets,  the  pomp  and  luxury,  the 
science  and  art,  the  magicians'  and  astrologers'  lore, 
the  idolatrous  worship,  the  King  Nebuchadnezzar, 
who  spoke  with  pride  of  this  great  Babylon  which 
I  have  built." 

The  Euphrates  ran  through  the  city,  and  was  divided 
into  canals  for  the  purpose  of  irrigation,  forming  a 
"network  of  watercourses."  Lofty  poplars  lined  their 
banks  and  cast  their  sheltering  shadows  on  the  captive 
people  as  they  clustered  together  to  cheer  each  other 
in  their  foreign  land.  Their  harps,  their  music,  they 
had  carried  with  them ;  and  often  when  by  themselves 
they  sang  for  their  own  comfort  the  songs  of  Zion. 

Here  is  one,  composed  probably  by  some  Levite 
Psalmist : 

Psalm  cxxxvii. 

"  By  the  rivers  of  Babylon,  there  we  sat  down  ;  yea,  we  wept 
When  we  remembered  Zion." 

It  is  the  "Home,  Sweet  Home"  of  the  Jewish 
captives : 


94 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


"  'Mid  pleasures  and  palaces 

Though  we  may  roam, 

Be  it  ever  so  homely, 

There's  no  place  Hke  home." 
***** 

An  exile  from  home, 

Splendour  dazzles  in  vain." 

But  not  only  are  they  patriotic  songs;  they  are 
Psalms  sacred  to  Jehovah ;  and  to  sing  them  for  the 
amusement  and  mirth  of  their  heathen  captors  would 
be  to  degrade  and  desecrate  them  and  to  trifle  with 
their  God.  As  well  sing  "Abide  with  me"  at  a 
mayor's  banquet,  or  recite  a  prayer  for  the  entertain- 
ment of  a  company  of  sceptics.  Before  the  idolaters 
they  will  suspend  their  harps  (ver.  2,  etc.)  : 

**  Upon  the  willows  in  the  midst  thereof 
We  hanged  up  our  harps." 

And  as  the  singer  broods  over  his  wrongs,  recalls 
the  ruined  city  and  Temple,  and  the  taunts  of  the 
Edomites,  he  bursts  into  a  terrible  storm  of  indignation, 
foresees — what  actually  took  place — the  destruction 
of  the  Babylonian  captors  (ver.  7) : 

"  Remember,  O  Lord,  the  children  of  Edom, 
In  the  day  of  Jerusalem, 
Who  said,  '  Down  with  it !   Down  with  it,  even  to  the 
ground ! ' 

O  daughter  of  Babylon,  thou  shalt  be  destroyed. 
Happy  shall  he  be  that  rewardeth  thee 
As  thou  hast  served  us." 
"  Happy  shall  he  be  that  taketh  thy  little  ones 
And  dasheth  them  against  the  rock." 


SONGS  IN  A  STRANGE  LAND. 


95 


It  is  a  terrible  cry  for  vengeance,  true  to  the  times. 
There  is  progress  in  revelation.  We  do  not  look  for 
an  anticipation  in  the  Old  Testament  of  Christ's 
Sermon  on  the  Mount. 

"  We  sate  down  and  wept  by  the  waters 

Of  Babel,  and  thought  of  the  day 
When  our  foe,  in  the  hue  of  his  slaughters, 

Made  Salem's  high  places  his  prey ; 
And  ye,  O  her  desolate  daughters ! 

Were  scattered  all  weeping  away. 

"  While  sadly  we  gazed  on  the  river 
Which  roll'd  on  in  freedom  below, 
They  demanded  the  song ;  but,  oh  never 
That  triumph  the  stranger  shall  know  ! 
May  this  right  hand  be  wither'd  for  ever, 
Ere  it  string  our  high  harp  for  the  foe  ! 

"  On  the  willow  that  harp  is  suspended, 
O  Salem  !  its  sound  should  be  free  ; 

And  the  hour  when  thy  glories  were  ended 
But  left  me  that  token  of  thee ; 

And  ne'er  shall  its  soft  tones  be  blended 
With  the  voice  of  the  spoiler  by  me  ! " 

True,  they  were  not  treated  as  slaves.  There  were 
few  cruelties  practised  on  them  such  as  the  negroes 
suffered  when  shipped  to  America.  Jeremiah  wrote 
and  advised  them  to  make  the  best  of  their  subjection, 
to  build  houses  and  plant  gardens,  and  to  prove  them- 
selves loyal.  Some  of  them  rose  to  positions  of 
influence  and  wealth.  Daniel,  for  example,  rose  to  a 
high  and  responsible  post.  Yet  the  command  that 
he  should  not  pray  to  his  God,  his  refusal  to  comply. 


96 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


and  the  tragic  consequences  in  the  Hons'  den ;  and 
the  treatment  of  Shadrach,  Meshach,  and  Abed-nego  ; 
show  that  pagan  despotism  rode  roughshod  over  the 
Hberties  and  reHgious  convictions  of  the  captives. 

Not  only  the  heathen  v^^orship,  but  the  heathen  food, 
was  repugnant  to  the  Jews,  and  some,  hke  Daniel, 
refused  to  eat  anything  but  pulse.  They  suffered 
many  indignities,  and  were  made  the  butt  for  the 
contempt  of  their  masters. 

Psalm  cii. 

is  also  a  cry  of  the  captives.  It  describes  their  bitter 
lot: 

"  I  have  forgotten  to  eat  my  bread. 

Because  of  the  voice  of  my  sighing 
My  bones  have  cleaved  to  my  flesh. 

I  am  Hke  a  pehcan  in  the  wilderness, 
I  am  become  an  owl  of  the  ruins." 

They  have  "  eaten  bread  like  ashes  and  mingled 
their  drink  with  weeping."  But 

"  Thou  wilt  arise,  and  have  compassion  on  Zion, 
For  it  is  time  to  be  gracious  unto  her, 
For  the  set  time  is  come," — 

the  time  set  by  the  prophets  in  their  predictions. 

"  Thy  servants  find  pleasure  in  her  stones  (Zion's  ruins), 
And  are  gracious  unto  her  dust." 

But  God  will 

Hear  the  sighing  of  the  prisoner, 

And  set  at  liberty  those  that  are  doomed  to  death." 


SONGS  IN  A  STRANGE  LAND. 


97 


In  the  course  of  years  the  captivity  was  made  easier  : 
the  captives  earned  greater  privileges,  and  a  few  were 
permitted  to  pay  a  visit  to  their  own  land  and  home. 

Psalm  lxxxiv. 

expresses  the  yearning  of  the  exiles  for  the  return, 
their  envy  of  those  who  can  go  up  to  the  festivals  and 
see  the  sacred  courts  so  dear  to  them. 

"  How  lovely  are  Thy  dwellings,  O  Jehovah  of  Hosts  ! 

My  soul  longeth,  yea,  even  fainteth  for  the  courts  of 
Jehovah." 

He  envies  the  very  sparrows  and  swallows,  which 
are  free  to  build  their  nests  in  the  sacred  eaves  and 
walls  : 

*'  Yea,  the  sparrow  hath  found  a  house, 

And  the  swallow  a  nest  for  herself,  where  she  hath  laid 
her  young, 
Even  Thine  altars,  O  Jehovah  of  Hosts." 

Happy  are  they  that  have  access  to  God's  House  ! 

Then  he  thinks  of  those  who  have  gone  to  visit 
Jerusalem,  or  he  recalls  the  caravans  of  pilgrims  that 
go  up  to  Jerusalem  at  the  great  festivals  :  and  he 
envies  those  (ver.  6) 

"Who,  passing  through  the  valley  of  Baca  " 
(the  vale  of  weeping — some  sorrowful  valley), 

"  Make  it  a  place  of  springs  ;  " 

who  forget  the  trials  of  the  journey  for  the  joy  of 
reaching  the  holy  city ;  and  who  (ver.  7) 
"  Go  from  strength  to  strength  " 

7 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


(as  they  go  from  station  to  station,  becoming  more 
buoyant  as  they  come  nearer  the  sacred  place), 

"  Till  each  one  appeareth  before  God  in  Zion." 
"For  a  day  in  Thy  courts  is  better  than  a  thousand  (else- 
where) ; 

I  had  rather  be  a  doorkeeper  in  the  House  of  my  God 
Than  dwell  in  the  tents  of  wickedness  (Babj^lon). 
Blessed  is  the  man  that  trusteth  in  Thee/' 


X. 


PILGRIM  SONGS. 
Psalms  cxv.,  cxviii.,  cxx. — cxxxiv. 

THE  inscription,  ''Songs  of  Degrees,"  prefixed  to 
Psalms  cxx.  to  cxxxiv.,  has  bewildered  young 
minds — and  old  ones  too — almost  as  much  as  the 
mystic  ''Selah." 

These  are  literally  Songs  of  Ascents,"  or  *'  Songs 
of  the  Upgoings."  Some  have  supposed  they  were 
sung  by  the  Levites  as  they  ascended  the  steps  of 
the  Temple.  Others  think  they  were  chanted  by  the 
caravans  of  pilgrims  as  they  gathered  at  Jerusalem 
for  the  great  festivals.  And  others  believe  they  were 
sung  by  the  pilgrim  bands  as  they  returned  from 
Babylonian  captivity. 

The  second  and  third  interpretations  must  be  com- 
bined as  the  true  explanation.  Some  of  these  Psalms 
point  to  the  return  from  captivity ;  and  all  of  them 
were  sung  by  the  companies  who  ascended  to  Jerusalem 
for  the  yearly  holy  days.  1  hey  accordingly  connect 
themselves  with  two  different  sets  of  scenes. 

For  the  first  set  of  scenes  we  must  return  to  Babylon. 


100 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


The  captive  Hebrews  are  no  longer  weeping  hopeless 
tears.  For  years  the  prophets  have  foreseen  the  over- 
throw of  Babylon.  "  Comfort  ye  !  comfort  ye  ! " — these 
words,  which  have  come  like  soothing  music  to  count- 
less weary  hearts  since  then,  were  first  addressed  as 
a  message  of  good  cheer  to  the  captives  in  Babylon 
foretelling  speedy  release  :  Comfort  ye  My  people^  saith 
your  God.  Speak  ye  comfortably  to  Jerusalem,  and 
cry  unto  her,  that  her  warfare  is  accomplished,  that  her 
iniquity  is  pardoned  :  for  she  hath  received  of  the  Lord's 
hand  double  for  all  her  sins." 

Cyrus  had  become  King  of  Persia,  had  overrun  one 
territory  after  another,  carrying  his  conquest  as  far 
as  the  Himalayas.  The  prophet,  with  far-sighted 
wisdom,  pointed  to  Cyrus  as  the  coming  deliverer. 
At  length  the  seventy  years'  predicted  captivity  were 
finished. 

All  remember  how  Belshazzar,  now  on  the  throne  of 
Nebuchadnezzar,  was  giving  a  great  feast  to  his  princes 
and  nobles  and  generals ;  how  the  cups  once  used  in 
the  Temple  at  Jerusalem  were  here  to  grace  this  scene 
of  luxurious  revelry ;  how  in  the  midst  of  it  there 
creeps  forth  a  hand ;  how  the  proud  king  turns  pale 

as  he  sees  the  finger  move  and  write  but,  O  ye 

gods,  write  what  ?  The  court  scholars,  the  astrolo- 
gers and  magicians  fail  to  read  it ;  but  a  Jew,  one 
of  the  captives,  Daniel,  is  called,  and  foretells  imme- 
diate doom  to  Babylon — and,  indeed,  already  doom  is 
at  the  door. 

For  Cyrus  has  diverted  a  branch  of  the  Euphrates 


PILGRIM  SONGS. 


lOI 


from  its  course,  and  has  stealthily  stolen  up  the  half- 
dry  river-bed  and  emerged  with  his  army  within  the 
wall ;  and  these  revelling,  half-drunken  Babylonians 
are  struck  with  consternation  more  tragic  than  that 
at  Brussels  before  Waterloo.  The  winecups  slip  from 
their  hands;  the  tread  of  heavy  feet,  the  clang  of 
approaching  troops  is  heard.  In  that  night  was 
Belshazzar  the  King  of  the  Chaldeans  slain." 

It  was  a  terrible  night.  The  Persian  invaders  met 
with  no  resistance,  cut  down  the  young  men,  set  fire 
to  the  houses,  heedless  of  their  treasures,  hunted  the 
terror-stricken  population  like  chased  deer,  and  actually 
carried  out  the  vengeful  wish  of  the  Hebrew  captive 
singer  in  Psalm  cxxxvii.,  for  they  literally  took  the 
little  children  and  hurled  them  against  the  ground.* 
^'  Babylon  the  great  is  fallen  !  "  The  news  echoed 
through  the  whole  land,  and  many  hearts  woke  to 
liberty. 

Ere  long  Cyrus,  with  generous  spirit,  gave  permis- 
sion to  the  Jewish  captives  to  return  to  their  own 
native  land  and  city.  To  this  they  had  looked  forward 
for  years  with  restless  impatience.  Now  the  day  had 
come.  Far  and  near  heralds  proclaimed  the  decree  of 
Cyrus. 

All  know  how,  when  the  abolition  of  slavery  was 
declared  in  the  West  Indies,  to  take  effect  at  sunrise  on 
a  certain  day,  the  slaves  climbed  the  hills  the  night 
before  and  waited  and  watched  for  the  morning  rays ; 


*  Dean  Stanley's  Jewish  Church,  iii.,  59. 


102 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


how  they  kept  their  eyes  on  the  eastern  horizon  to 
catch  the  first  streaks  of  daylight,  and  as  the  sun 
peeped  into  sight  these  slaves  sprang  to  their  feet  with 
the  cry,  "We  are  free!  we  are  free!"  and  the  cry 
rang  down  the  valleys  and  among  the  huts  of  the 
emancipated. 

It  was  with  such  overflowing  gladness  that  these 
Hebrew  captives  greeted  the  day  that  was  to  see  them 
on  the  way  back  to  the  Holy  City  and  Holy  Land. 

Psalm  cxxvi. 

pictures  their  feelings. 

"When  Jehovah  brought  back  the  returned  of  Zion, 
We  were  Hke  unto  them  that  dream." 

It  was  like  a  happ}^  dream,  from  which  one  wakes 
afraid  lest  it  be  only  a  dream,  too  good  to  be  true. 

"  Then  was  our  mouth  filled  with  laughter, 
And  our  tongues  with  songs  of  joy." 

The  heathen  no  longer  mock  at  their  God-forsaken  lot, 
no  longer  cry,     Where  is  your  God  ?  " 

"  Then  said  they  among  the  nations  (the  heathen), 
'Jehovah  hath  done  great  things  for  them." 
Yea,  Jehovah  Jiatli  done  great  things  for  us. 
Whereof  we  were  glad." 

So  also 

Psalm  cxxiv. 

celebrates  the  liberation  of  the  captives. 

"  If  Jehovah  had  not  been  on  our  side 
— Israel  may  now  say — 


PILGRIM  SONGS. 


103 


If  Jehovah  had  not  been  on  our  side, 

When  men  rose  up  against  us ; 
Then  they  had  swallowed  us  up  alive." 
"Our  soul  is  escaped  as  a  bird  from  the  snare  of  the 
fowlers : 

The  snare  is  broken  and  we  are  escaped." 

This  emancipation  was  a  second  exodus,  and  they 
themselves  compared  their  deliverance  to  the  escape 
of  the  Israelites  from  Egypt. 

It  is  true,  many,  indeed  the  majority,  of  the  Jews 
chose  to  remain  in  their  new  homes.  Some  had  pro- 
spered, others  had  succumbed  to  idolatry.  But  the 
best  of  them  had  sung : 

"  If  I  forget  thee,  O  Jerusalem, 

Let  my  right  hand  forget  her  cunning," 

and  hastened  to  return. 

By  order  of  Cyrus,  the  vessels  of  gold  and  silver 
which  had  been  taken  from  the  Temple  on  Zion  were 
handed  back  to  the  Jewish  priests  among  the  pilgrims. 
There  were  thousands  of  them,  cups,  salvers,  etc., 
many  of  which  had  graced  the  fatal  feast  of  Belshazzar. 
So  generous  was  their  liberator  that  he  even  provided 
beasts  of  burden  and  supplies  for  the  four  months' 
journey. 

They  set  out  under  the  leadership  of  Zerubbabel, 
and  the  mustering  of  so  many  released  captives,  all 
aglow  with  patriotic  enthusiasm,  must  have  been  an 
impressive  sight.  The  pilgrim  host  consisted  of  over 
forty- two  thousand  persons,  male  and  female,  adults 
and  children  above  twelve,  besides  more  than  seven 


104 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


thousand  slaves.  There  were  two  hundred  singers, 
and  one  hundred  and  twenty-eight  trained  musicians 
of  the  clan  of  Asaph. 

Tradition  describes  the  enthusiasm  of  the  start.  We 
are  told  that  an  escort  of  a  thousand  cavalry  accom- 
panied them  for  protection  against  the  desert  Arabs, 
and  they  started  at  the  sound  of  tabrets  and  flutes."* 
The  old  and  infirm  were  placed  on  camels ;  a  few  rich 
people  were  able  to  ride  on  horseback — a  luxury  in 
those  days, — while  two  hundred  and  seventy  asses 
carried  the  supplies  and  baggage.  But,  as  there  was 
only  one  animal  to  every  seven  pilgrims,  by  far  the 
greater  portion  of  them  must  have  done  the  journey 
on  foot. 

But  their  enthusiasm  and  courage  were  all  required. 
The  journey  was  a  long  and  dreary  one,  occupying  four 
months.  Over  the  rough  gravel  plains,  one  monotonous 
level  stretch,  with  but  few  if  any  springs,  they  trudged 
on  resolutely.  No  doubt  the  minstrels  and  singers 
relieved  the  weary  marches  and  the  evening  rests 
with  the  songs  of  Zion. 

They  were  returning  to  a  land  that  lay  in  ruins. 
When  they  had  passed  through  all  the  perils  of  robbers 
and  of  beasts  of  prey,  they  found  almost  all  their  land 
occupied  by  Edomites  and  others,  and  only  a  narrow 
strip,  including  Jerusalem,  open  to  them.  That  sacred 
city  itself  was  still  a  heap  of  ruins,  and  the  dream  of 
all  their  captivity  had  been  to  restore  it  to  its  former 


*  Geikie's  Hours  with  the  Bible. 


PILGRIM  SONGS. 


and  even  to  greater  glory.  It  was  the  work  of  long 
years.    It  was  this  in 

Psalm  cxxvi. 

that  made  the  writer  say  : 

"  They  that  sow  in  tears  shall  reap  in  joy." 

Though  they  go  back  in  tears  and  trouble,  there  will  be 
a  time  of  joy  and  prosperity  by-and-bye.  They  may 
go  along  weeping,  bearing  a  handful  of  seed,  but  they 
shall  by-and-bye  come  again  with  songs  of  rejoicing, 
bringing  their  sheaves  with  them. 

Their  first  task  was  to  erect  the  new  altar,  twice  the 
size  of  Solomon's.  This  was  accomplished  in  face  of 
the  sallies  and  taunts  of  the  wild  hordes  that  roved 
round  Jerusalem.  When  the  day  fixed  for  its  consecra- 
tion— the  great  Feast  of  Tabernacles — arrived,  it  saw  a 
vast  gathering  of  people  who  had  looked  forward  to 
this  occasion  for  many  long  years  gone  by.  It  was 
an  impressive  ceremony.  Once  more,  after  Zion  had 
lain  dismantled  and  profaned,  the  smoke  of  sacrifices 
ascended  to  heaven,  and  Levite  singers  and  musicians 
raised  songs  of  thanksgiving.  It  is  believed  that  some 
of  the  Jubilant  Psalms  at  the  end  of  the  Psalter  (cxliv. 
to  cxlviii.),  so  full  of  Hallelujahs,  also  such  psalms 
as  Ps.  cvii.,  were  composed  for  or  sung  upon  this 
occasion. 

Ewald  believes  that 

Psalm  cxv. 

was  intended  to  be  sung  while  the  sacrifices  were  being 


io6 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


presented.  (And,  as  said  already,  this  was  one  of  the 
Psalms  sung  at  the  Passover  Feast.  That  night  when 
Christ  instituted  the  Lord's  Supper,  He  sang,  as  usual 
in  the  early  part  of  the  Passover,  Psalms  cxiii.  and 
cxiv.  ;  at  the  close,  cxv.  to  cxviii.  This  was  the 
"hymn"  which  we  are  told  He  sang  before  going  out 
to  the  Garden  of  Gethsemane.) 

Psalm  cxv. 

shows  how  they  felt  the  taunts  of  the  marauders,  and 
how  they  now  looked  with  scorn  on  the  idols  of  their 
recent  captivity. 

"  Their  idols  are  silver  and  gold, 
The  work  of  men's  hands. 
A  mouth  have  they,  but  they  speak  not ; 
Eyes  have  they,  but  they  see  not,"  etc. 

But 

"  Our  God  is  in  the  Heavens  : 

He  hath  done  whatsoever  He  pleased." 

The  deliverance  has  come  from  God,  and  the  praise 
shall  be  His  : 

"  Not  unto  us,  O  Jehovah,  not  unto  us. 
But  to  Thy  name  give  glory." 

It  would  take  too  long  to  tell  how,  in  course  of  time, 
other  bands  of  captives  returned  from  Babylon  under 
Ezra  and  Nehemiah  ;  how  they  built  the  walls,  under 
the  constant  attacks  of  the  hostile  races  and  brigand 
hordes  that  resented  their  return  ;  how  they  built  with 
one  hand  and  held  their  weapons  with  the  other ;  how 


PILGRIM  SONGS. 


107 


some  worked  while  others  watched ;  how  at  last  the 
whole  city  was  restored,  and  the  jubilations  of  the 
people  burst  forth  in  such  Psalms  as 

Psalm  cxviii.  : 

*'  O  give  thanks  unto  Jehovah,  for  He  is  good, 
For  His  mercy  endureth  for  ever." 

These  verses  were  shared  by  priests  and  congregation, 
the  priests  reading  the  first  clause  and  the  people 
answering  : 

"  For  His  mercy  endureth  for  ever." 
"  Let  Israel  now  say 

That  His  mercy  endureth  for  ever." 

As  the  procession  enters  the  city : 

"  Open  to  me  the  gates  of  righteousness, 

I  will  go  into  them,  and  give  thanks  unto  Jehovah." 
"  Bind  the  sacrifice  with  cords,  even  unto  the  horns  of 
the  altar." 

Now  we  turn  to  another  set  of  scenes.  Years  have 
gone  by,  and  the  Jews  are  settled  throughout  the  land, 
coming  up  to  the  holy  city  to  the  great  annual  holy 
festivals.  It  will  help  our  imagination  if  we  remember 
how  Jesus  was  brought  up  from  Nazareth  to  Jerusalem 
when  twelve  years  of  age,  and  how  in  the  crowd  of 
caravans  and  pilgrims  on  the  return  journey  His 
absence  was  not  missed  until  different  companies 
took  different  roads. 

Josephus  calculates  that  over  two  millions  were  in 
Jerusalem  at  the  Passover  time.    Philo  says  :  "  Many 


io8 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


thousands  from  many  thousand  towns  and  cities  make 
a  pilgrimage  to  the  Temple  at  every  feast ;  some  by 
land,  others  by  sea,  from  the  east  and  the  west  and  the 
north  and  the  south."  The  whole  landscape  and  high- 
ways were  dotted  with  companies  of  travellers  to  the 
holy  city,  the  Mecca  of  the  Jews.  Pious  bands  from 
villages  gather  and  travel  together  for  protection  against 
the  robbers  and  wild  beasts.  ''Veiled  women  and 
venerable  men  ride  on  camels  or  mules  ;  younger  men 
walk  alongside,  staff  in  hand ;  "  children  play  and  romp 
by  the  side  of  the  slow-moving  cavalcade. 

I  have  seen  bands  of  Buddhist  pilgrims  in  Japan  on 
their  way  to  their  sacred  places.  They  carried  long 
staffs  with  tinkhng  bells.  Some  walked  on  one  side 
of  the  road,  others  on  the  other  side ;  and  as  they 
trudged  along,  one  company  exchanged  a  sort  of 
plaintive  chant  with  the  other,  each  answering  each 
in  turn. 

These  bands  of  Jewish  pilgrims  had  tabret  and  flute, 
singers  and  players  with  them,  and  sang  as  they 
travelled. 

Psalms  cxx.  to  cxxxiv.  were  sung  as  ''  Songs  of 
Degrees,"  "Songs  of  Ascents,"  and  probably  at  one 
time  formed  a  separate  collection,  afterwards  incor- 
porated within  the  Psalter :  "  A  Psalter  within  the 
Psalter." 

They  are  characterized  by  allusions  to  the  cap- 
tivity, intense  affection  for  the  holy  city,  references 
to  domestic  life,  the  blessings  of  families  and  the 
delights  of  the  pilgrims  to  the  feasts. 


PILGRIM  SONGS. 


109 


Psalm  cxxi. 

pictures  the  pleasure  the  pilgrims  felt  when  the  first 
sight  of  Jerusalem  burst  on  them — 

"  1  will  lift  up  mine  eyes  unto  the  mountains : 
From  whence  should  my  help  come  ?  " 

It  pictures,  in  ver.  3  and  onwards,  the  perils  of  the 
night  and  of  the  rough  road,  the  perils  of  the  pilgrims 
from  brigands  and  beasts  of  prey,  requiring  them  to 
travel  in  armed  companies. 

"  He  that  keepeth  thee  will  not  slumber. 

Behold,  He  doth  neither  slumber  nor  sleep 
That  keepeth  Israel. 

By  day  the  sun  shall  not  smite  thee, 
Nor  the  moon  by  night. 

Jehovah  shall  keep  thy  going  out  and  thy  coming  in, 
From  this  time  forth  and  for  evermore." 

Psalm  cxxn. 

opens  with  the  recollection  of  the  pleasure  of  the  call 
to  the  feast. 

"  I  was  glad  when  they  said  unto  me, 

Let  us  go  unto  the  House  of  Jehovah." 

It  describes  the  pride  they  felt  in  standing  within  the 
gates  of  the  sacred  city,  the  impression  the  country 
people  got  of  the  grandeur  and  stateUness  of  the 
capital. 

"Jerusalem,  that  art  built 

As  a  city  which  is  compactly  built  together ; 
Whither  the  tribes  go  up,  the  tribes  of  Jehovah, 
Even  the  tribes  of  the  Lord." 


no 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


Then  a  prayer  of  loyalty,  a  prayer  for  prosperous 
peace : 

"  O  pray  for  the  peace  of  Jerusalem  : 
They  shall  prosper  that  love  thee. 
Peace  be  within  thy  bulwarks, 
Prosperity  within  thy  palaces." 

Jerusalem  is  profaned ;  the  Holy  City  is  now  a 
Turkish  town ;  and  we  have  no  Mecca  remaining 
to-day.  None  here  on  earth.  Here  we  have  no  con- 
tinuing city,  but  we  seek  one  above,  where  Christ  is 
sitting.  We  are  pilgrims ;  our  life  is  a  Pilgrim's 
Progress  to  the  Celestial  City.  The  way  is  full  of 
perils  and  discouragements.  But  Christ  has  been  a 
Pilgrim  too,  and  He  knows  every  step  of  the  way.  We 
are  not  alone,  for  He  is  with  us.  We  are  not  alone, 
for  we  go  together  in  bands,  and  we  need  Christian 
communion  to  give  cheer  to  each  other  and  encourage 
the  faint-hearted  and  feeble.  We  have  the  Songs  of 
Zion  for  our  pilgrimage. 

"  Onward  we  go,  for  still  we  hear  them  singing, 

'  Come,  weary  souls,  for  Jesus  bids  you  come  ; ' 
And  through  the  dark,  its  echoes  sweetly  ringing. 
The  music  of  the  Gospel  leads  us  home." 


PART  II. 
ROMANCE  OF  THE  HYMNAL. 


I. 


GENERAL  SURVEY. 
I.  The  Nilometer  of  the  Church's  History. 

THERE  is  an  instrument   called  the  Nilometer, 
which  is  used  to  register  the  height  to  which 
the  Nile  rises  each  year  in  its  inundations. 

Hymns  are  the  Nilometer  of  the  Christian  Church. 
Each  rise  and  fall  in  its  spiritual  condition  is  registered 
in  the  hymns  of  the  period. 

The  Advent  of  the  Christ  is  marked  by  the  outburst 
of  adoring  gratitude  in  the  Benedictus,"  the  Mag- 
nificat," :the  "Nunc  Dimittis." 

The  desperate  state  of  the  world  at  the  time  is 
reflected  in  the  hymns  of  the  Middle  Ages,  in  their 
"  other-worldhness/'  in  the  heaven-hunger,  the  con- 
tempt of  man's  "  brief  life,"  in  the  longing  for  "  Jeru- 
salem the  Golden,"  in  Bernard  of  Cluny  and  Bernard 
of  Clairvaux. 

During  the  unhistoric  intervals  the  Church  was 
almost  without  sacred  song.  The  Dark  Ages  were 
silent  ages. 

Luther  found  the  Church  almost  songless.  He 
resolved  to  remedy  this  deficiency,  and  secure  not 

8 


114 


EOMANCE  OF  THE  HYMNAL, 


only  liberty  of  conscience  but  liberty  of  praise.  Him- 
self an  ardent  flute  player,  he  provided  music  for  the 
young  and  prepared  a  hymn  book  for  schools.  In 
those  schools  which  he  and  Melanchthon  estabhshed 
nearly  one-fourth  of  the  time  was  devoted  to  musical 
tuition.  What  the  "  Theses "  declared  in  dogma  was 
sung  into  the  hearts  of  the  people  in  hymns.  The  truth 
was  carried  into  every  corner  of  the  country  on  the  wings 
of  praise,  until  whole  villages  resounded  with  hymns  at 
the  time  of  morning  and  evening  family  worship. 

Luther  marching  to  Worms,  singing  "  Ein  feste 
Burg"  is  typical  of  the  Reformatioriy  which  marched 
singing  to  victory. 

Then  during  the  succeeding  era  of  unbelief  there  was 
a  comparative  lull  in  hymn-writing. 

But,  again,  in  the  great  Evangelical  Revival  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  there  came  a  mighty  outburst  of 
song.  Charles  Wesley  is  the  representative  name  from 
among  many — Olivers,  Anne  Steele,  Cowper,  Newton. 
People  went  singing  to  their  meetings  in  great  com- 
panies, and  made  the  streets  echo  with  their  hymns  on 
the  way  home. 

The  beginning  of  the  Missionary  Movement  is  clearly 
marked  in  the  praise  of  the  Church.  Heber  and 
Montgomery's  hymns  proclaim  the  opening  of  the 
mission  era. 

"From  Greenland's  icy  mountains  " 

and  kindred  hymns  are  a  landmark  in  the  history  of 
Christ's  cause. 


GENERAL  SURVEY. 


The  revivlal  of  Ritualism  inaugurated  by  the  Trac- 
tarians  produced,  and  in  turn  was  aided  by,  Keble's 
Christian  Year  and  Faber  and  Newman's  hymns. 

The  Evangelical  and  Evangelistic  Revivals  of  the 
present  half-century  have  left  their  imprint  on  our 
praise.  The  awakenings  that  gave  us  Sankey's  Sacred 
Songs  were  only  part  of  a  far  wider  movement.  The 
religious  life  of  individuals  and  of  Churches  has 
experienced  a  deepening  of  faith  and  consecration. 
Bonar,  Miss  Havergal,  Ray  Palmer,  are  a  few  of  the 
names  that  mark  this  movement.  Their  lyrics  are 
the  ex-pressed  juice  in  song  of  a  Gospel  Renaissance 
which  has  been  advancing  without  din  or  strife. 

The  great  work  among  the  students  of  EngHsh  and 
Scotch  and  American  Universities,  the  flood  of  student 
volunteers  for  foreign  missionary  labour,  the  frequent 
Conferences  for  the  deepening  of  the  spiritual  life, 
such  as  the  Keswick  Convention,  all  witness  to  the 
existence  of  a  religious  renewal. 

Hymnals  have,  therefore,  a  historic  value  and  interest. 
The  story  of  Church  praise  is  the  story  of  all  the  great 
movements  which  have  stirred  the  Christian  Church. 
Church  praise  is  the  essence  of  Church  History. 

Hymns  are  thus  the  ''high-water  mark"  of  the 
Church's  spirituality.  The  songless  periods  have  been 
stagnant  periods.  During  the  dark  ages  the  clergy 
sang  for  the  people  as  well  as  prayed  for  them.  And 
to-day  the  songless  Churches  are  the  stagnant  ones. 
Where  there  is  priestcraft,  there  the  service  of  praise  is 
J>erformed  for  the  congregation,  and  there  it  is  still  night. 


ii6 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  HYMNAL. 


Progress  and  power  have  always  gone  hand  in 
hand  with  praise.  Men  sneeringly  called  Cromwell's 
Ironsides  ''Psalm-singers;"*  but,  if  history  proves 
anything,  it  proves  that  "  Psalm-singers  "  are  likely  to 
be  ''Ironsides." 

2.  The  Church  Universal. 

A  hymn  book  is  a  miniature  of  the  Church  Universal. 
It  laughs  to  scorn  the  claim  of  any  single  Church 
to*be  the  one  true  Church  of  Christ.  It  proves  the 
true  unity  of  Christians  in  spite  of  the  absence  of 
uniformity. 

Roman  Catholics — Faber,  Xavier,  St.  Bernard — 
stand  side  by  side  with  Protestants, — Luther,  Ger- 
hardt.  Ritualists  —  Keble,  Neale  —  associate  with 
Evangehcals — Lyte,  Cowper,  Havergal;  and  both  are 
compelled  to  mix  with  Baxter  the  Puritan,  Watts 
and  Doddridge  the  Congregationalists,  Wesley  and 
Olivers  the  Methodists,  and  Bonar  and  McCheyne 
the  Presbyterians. 

The  Arminian  Wesley  and  the  Calvinist  Toplady  no 
longer  dispute  and  wrangle,  but  dwell  together  in  peace. 

Even  the  Unitarian's  yearning — Adams'  "  Nearer, 
my  God,  to  Thee " — is  called  into  the  service  of 
God,  along  with  Heber's  Trinity  Hymn,  "  Holy, 
Holy,  Holy,  Lord  God  Almighty." 

All  are  here,  and  all  are  needed.  Without  the 
rest,  no  Church's  praise  would  be  perfect.  Hymn 


*  The  Study,  1873,  P-  I03- 


GENERAL  SURVEY. 


17 


books  remind  Romanists  and  Ritualists  and  all 
bigots  of  Christ's  words  :  "  Other  sheep  I  have 
which  are  not  of  this  fold."  Each  sings  his  part ; 
all  combine  to  produce  that  Harmonized  Anthem  which 
the  Christian  Church  is  learning  here,  and  which  it 
will  sing  perfectly  hereafter. 

When  men  sing  hymns  and  offer  prayers,  no  one 
can  tell  their  theological  differences.  Toplady  and 
Wesley  angrily  disputed  upon  points  of  theology. 
We  sing  their  hymns,  and  cannot  discover  which  is 
the  Arminian  and  which  the  Calvinist.  Indeed,  the 
Calvinist's  Rock  of  Ages "  was  attributed  to  the 
Arminian — and  that  by  an  Arminian ! 

It  seems  difficult  to  put  cold  dogma  into  hymn 
or  prayer.  In  devotion,  before  God,  all  are  one, 
although  in  controversy,  towards  each  other,  they 
may  stand  opposed. 

This  is  the  true  Catholic  Church,  or  Christian 
Union,  or  Evangelical  Alliance,  forecast  of  the  One 
Church  above. 

Hymn  books  contain  and  teach  the  theology  of 
the  people.  Creeds  are  for  controversialists.  Con- 
fessions of  Faith  for  ecclesiastics  :  but  neither  con- 
tributes much  to  the  theology  of  average  Christians. 
Hymnals  are  the  people's  creeds  :  hymns  their 
religious  teachers.  What  has  set  itself  to  music, 
what  we  sing,  becomes  part  of  ourselves.  It  is 
always  with  us.  Prose  has  not  the  same  capacity  as 
Song  to  shape  thought  and  belief.  Our  hymns  have 
been  among  the  most  potent  preachers. 


liS  ROMANCE  OF  THE  HYMNAL. 


They  have  been  Evangelists.  They  have  put  words 
into  the  Hps  that  have  helped  the  heart  to  believe. 
They  have  enabled  many  to  take  the  decisive  step. 
We  cannot  doubt  that  numbers,  as  they  have  sung 
the  song,  "  Just  as  I  am,"  have  seen  the  truth  and 
found  rest  in  Christ. 

They  have  also  been  the  Comforter's  chosen 
channels  of  peace  and  consolation. 

Hearts  that  could  not  enjoy  prayer  have  often 
found  relief  in  holy  song.  Hymns  have  given 
wings  to  their  thoughts. 

^3.  Children's  Hymns. 

Until  the  days  of  Watts,  no  hymn-writer  seems  to 
have  recognized  the  need  of  hymns  specially  adapted  to 
children.  It  appears  to  have  been  taken  for  granted 
that  if  the  young  were  not  able  to  sing  ordinary  hymns 
with  interest  and  intelligence,  it  was  merely  one  of  the 
disadvantages  of  youth  which  they  must  endure  till 
their  minds  had  developed.  Meanwhile,  the  little  folks 
must  commit  to  memory  the  words  of  ordinary  hymns, 
and  discover  their  meaning  by-and-bye. 

What  a  change  since  the  days  of  Watts !  To-day 
every  Hymnal  has  its  section  for  "The  Young,"  and 
no  Morning  Service  is  complete  without  its  hymn  for 
the  children.  The  benefit  for  the  little  folks  is 
incalculable. 

At  first  the  hymns  written  for  the  young  were 
solemn,  dry,  doctrinal,  and  threatening.  They  ex- 
pressed sentiments  impossible  to  any  but  wayworn 


GENERAL  SURVEY. 


travellers ;  weariness  of  earth,  longing  for  Heaven, 
the  passion  of  rehgious  conflict.  They  embodied  dog- 
matic theology  which  could,  even  if  it  were  in  its 
proper  place  in  a  hymn,  be  understood  only  by  mature 
minds. 

Still  worse :  they  brandished  punishment,  death,  and 
even  hell  before  the  eyes  of  the  children.  They 
sought  to  drive  them  from  sin  by  a  threat  rather  than 
win  them  to  goodness  by  love.  They. could  not  but 
leave  in  young  minds  the  impression  of  God  as  a  sort 
of  detective,  with  a  gaol  at  His  command  ;  whereas 
hymns  for  the  young  should  be  like  the  young 
themselves — bright,  happy,  warm-hearted,  winsome, 
inspiring. 

Dr.  Watts  was  the  first  to  provide  for  the  lambs 
of  the  flock  ;  "  and  we  owe  him  a  large  debt  for  his 
contributions.  But  it  is  evident  he  was  a  bachelor  and 
knew  little  of  the  real  wants  of  children,  in  spite  of  his 
experience  as  a  tutor  in  a  family. 

Here  is  a  verse  from  one  of  his  hymns  meant  for 
children ;  and  how  wicked  is  the  representation  given 
of  the  Gracious  Father  : 

"What  if  His  dreadful  anger  burn, 
While  I  refuse  His  offered  grace, 
And  all  His  love  to  fury  turn, 

And  strike  me  dead  upon  the  place?" 

With  reference  to  the  sin  of  falsehood  he  puts  these 
lines  in  young  lips  : 


120 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  HYMNAL. 


*'  The  Lord  delights  in  them  that  speak 
The  words  of  truth  ;  but  every  liar 
Must  have  his  portion  in  the  lake 
That  burns  with  brimstone  and  with  fire." 

Even  more  awful  is  the  following  : 

"  There  is  a  dreadful  hell, 
And  everlasting  pains, 
Where  sinners  must  for  ever  dwell 
In  darkness,  fire,  and  chains. 

"  Can  such  a  wretch  as  I 
Escape  this  cursed  end  ? 
And  may  I  hope,  whene'er  I  die, 
I  shall  to  Heaven  ascend  ?  " 

What  can  be  said  on  behalf  of  putting  these 
sentiments,  however  true,  into  a  hymn  of  praise ;  and 
especially  of  putting  them  into  children's  lips  ?  Well 
for  the  children  if  their  love  for  sacred  things  can 
survive  such  a  test  ! 

Happily,  some  that  Watts  wrote  were  conceived  in 
a  more  kindly  vein  ;  but  such  were  limited  in  number. 

In  spite  of  the  halo  of  respect  which  we  throw 
around  all  we  were  taught  at  our  mother's  knee,  we 
cannot  fail  to  see  the  comical  side  of  such  remarks  as 
these  in  a  hymn  fixed  in  everyone's  memory  : 
"  Let  dogs  delight  to  bark  and  bite, 
For  God  has  made  them  so ; 
Let  bears  and  lions  growl  and  fight, 

For  'tis  their  nature  too. 
But,  children,  you  should  never  let 

Your  angry  passions  rise  ; 
Your  little  hands  were  never  made 
To  tear  each  other's  eyes." 


GENERAL  SURVEY, 


121 


Charles  Wesley  remembered  the  little  ones  ;  and  is 
sometimes  very  happy  in  his  lines,  as  in 
"  Gentle  Jesus,  meek  and  mild, 
Look  upon  a  little  child  ; 
Pity  my  simplicity, 
Suffer  me  to  come  to  Thee." 

Ann  and  Jane  Taylor  strove  to  meet  the  wants  of 
child-worshippers.  The  latter  received  her  inspiration 
in  a  peculiar  way.  *'My  method  was  to  shut  my  eyes 
and  imagine  the  presence  of  some  pretty  Httle  mortal, 
and  then  endeavour  to  catch,  as  it  were,  the  very 
language  it  would  use  on  the  subject  before  me.  If  in 
any  instances  I  have  succeeded,  to  this  little  imaginary 
being  I  should  attribute  my  success.  And  1  have  failed 
so  frequently,  because  so  frequently  I  was  compelled 
to  say,  *  Now  you  may  go,  my  dear ;  I  shall  finish 
the  hymn  myself  " 

The  origin  of  Mrs.  Luke's  well-known  children's 
hymn, 

"  I  think  when  I  read  that  sweet  story  of  old," 
is  interesting. 

Mrs.  Luke  was  one  day  travelling  in  a  stage-coach, 
when  the  thought  struck  her  to  write  something  which 
would  be  suitable  for  use  in  the  village  school  in  which 
her  father  took  an  interest.  As  the  coach  rattled  on 
its  way  she  jotted  down  that  hymn,  which  has  been 
lisped  by  infant  voices  in  every  land,  making  music  on 
each  and  joy  in  heaven."* 


*  Edwin  Hodder. 


122 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  HYMNAL, 


To  Heber  also  the  children  are  indebted  for  several 
of  their  favourite  hymns, — 

"  Brightest  and  best  of  the  sons  of  the  morning ;  " 

"  By  cool  Siloam's  shady  rill ;  " 

"  From  Greenland's  icy  mountains." 

Mrs.  Cecil  Frances  Alexander,  wife  of  the  Bishop 
of  Derry,  has,  however,  met  the  wants  of  the 
children  better  than  any  other  writer  in  the  present 
generation.  Her  language  and  her  thought  are  ahke 
simple.  She  recognises  their  love  of  incident,  and  in 
more  than  one  hymn  gives  her  thought  a  historical 
setting ;  e.g. — 

"  Once  in  Royal  David's  city  ; " 
**  There  is  a  green  hill  far  away." 

Her  sentiments  befit  the  mind  of  a  child;  her  lines 
express  the  brightness  and  naturalness  of  children, 
as  in 

"  All  things  bright  and  beautiful ; 
"  We  are  but  little  children  weak  ;  " 

and  in  another,  which  is  less  widely  known : 

"  Do  no  sinful  action, 
Speak  no  angry  word  : 
Ye  belong  to  Jesus, 
Children  of  the  Lord." 

Among  no  class  of  hymns  can  we  mark  such  progress 
as  in  those  for  the  young.  And  the  growth  has  been 
more  remarkable  in  quality  and  suitability  than  even 
in  quantity. 


GENERAL  SURVEY. 


123 


4.  Sermonic  Hymns. 

Not  a  few  of  our  veteran  hymns  were  written  to 
follow  and  sum  up  sermons. 

Dr.  Watts  and  Dr.  Doddridge  both  adopted  this 
method.  Many  of  their  hymns  were  sung  at  the 
close  of  their  sermons.  Hence  they  were  frequently 
cast  in  a  sermonic  mould,  declaratory,  doctrinal,  di- 
dactic. It  is  said  that  often  the  preaching  was  less 
effective  and  impressive  than  the  recital  of  the  hymn 
at  the  close.  It  is  certain  that  some  of  our  standard 
hymns  were  composed  under  such  conditions. 

Edwin  Hodder  tells  of  an  extreme  instance  of 
specific  hymn-writing,  the  case  of  George  Wither, 
who  made  pieces  for  every  event,  public  or  private. 
The  titles  of  some  are  amusing :  "  A  Hymn  for  a 
House-warming ;  "  ''For  a  Widower  or  Widow  delivered 
from  a  Troublesome  Yokefellow ;  "A  Hymn  whilst  we 
are  washing^  George  Wither  happily  finds  his  place 
among  the  "  Rejected  "  to-day. 

5.  Introspective  Hymns. 

The  tendency  in  the  hymns  of  recent  times  is  to 
indulge  in  excessive  self-analysis.  This  tendency  is 
not,  of  course,  confined  to  our  own  period.  The 
hymns  of  the  cloisters  are  often  self-contemplative. 
But  this  feature  is  distinctive  of  certain  writers  of 
the  present  half-century.  ^ 

They  weigh  their  feelings,  measure  their  moods. 


124 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  HYMNAL. 


record  the  fluctuations  of  their  inner  Hfe.  They 
accordingly  become  morbid  and  unhealthy. 

Faber  is  specially  guilty  of  this  sin.  You  may 
open  his  collected  Hymns  at  any  place  and  find  an 
instance,  such  as  this,  taken  almost  at  random  : — 

"  My  very  thoughts  are  selfish,  always  building 
Mean  castles  in  the  air  ; 
I  use  my  love  of  others  for  a  gilding 
To  make  myself  look  fair." 

His  self-analysis  leads  to  painful  exaggeration.  He 
revels  in  self-recrimination.  He  certainly  holds  the 
mirror  up  to  human  nature :  but  we  are  none  the 
better  or  brighter  for  it.  Whilst  in  spirit  lofty  and 
pure,  his  descriptions  are  often  sensational,  almost 
gross. 

Hymn-writers  who  at  one  time  were  desperately 
wicked  are  liable  to  introspection  and  exaggeration. 

This  is  true  of  John  Cennick — whose  Hfe  was 
godless  and  vile — author  of 

Children  of  the  Heavenly  King,"  etc. 

It  apphes  still  more  accurately  to  Joseph  Hart,  who 
abandoned  himself  to  all  sin  and  infidelity.  When, 
through  a  companion  writing  a  letter  to  him,  he  was 
brought  under  conviction,  he  was  so  overwhelmed 
with  a  sense  of  his  sin  that  his  health  gave  way.  He 
happened  to  wander  into  a  Moravian  Chapel  in  Fetter 
Lane  on  a  Whit  Sunday,  where  he  heard  the  good 
news  of  Divine  pardon.  His  hymns  embody  these 
deep  experiences  of  personal  sin,  although  they  do 


GENERAL  SURVEY. 


125 


not  indulge  in  continued  self-analysis.  He  is  best 
known  by  those  lines,  which  have  won  many 
hearts  : 

"Come,  ye  sinners,  poor  and  wretched, 
Weak  and  wounded,  sick  and  sore." 

Miss  Havergal  delights  to  express  personal  feelings 
and  to  describe  spiritual  states.  The  first  personal 
pronoun  is  much  on  her  lips.  Moods  and  sentiments 
are  plaintively  pictured,  and  consequently  there  is  a 
want  of  healthy  vigour.  A  singer  may  start,  as 
David  often  starts,  with  his  own  weaknesses  and 
experiences,  but  he  should  quickly  be  absorbed  in 
God,  and  in  this  contemplation  of  God  the  morbid 
self-analysis  should  be  dropped. 

6.  Sensuous  Hymns. 

Our  praise  is  threatened  with  a  deluge  of  amorous 
vapourings,  sentimental  effusions  that  verge  on  carnal 
passion  and  not  on  worship.  To  the  emotional  Mary, 
in  the  act  of  clasping  the  risen  Christ,  Jesus  said, 
"  Touch  Me  not."  Many  hymns,  especially  some  from 
America,  clasp  Him  with  endearments,  or  gloat  over 
His  bodily  wounds.    "  Touch  Me  not." 

7.  Hymns  or  Soliloquies  ? 

Some  hymns  included  in  recent  collections  are  little 
more  than  devout  meditations. 

They  are  not  praise^  they  are  not  prayer — unless 
by  implication  :  they  are  pious  reflections.    They  have 


126 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  HYMNAL. 


great  excellences  as  religious  poems,  but  they  are 
not  hymns. 

Yet,  in  spite  of  this  fact,  they  are  found  to  be 
profitable  for  comfort  and  devotion. 

Adelaide  A.  Procter  has  written  several  pieces 
that  a  devout  mind  loves  to  repeat ;  but  scarcely  one 
of  them  is  a  hymn  proper ;  e.g.  : 

"  I  do  not  ask,  O  Lord,  that  life  may  be 
A  pleasant  road ; 
I  do  not  ask  that  Thou  wouldst  take  from  me 
Aught  of  its  load." 

A.  L.  Waring  has  written  two  pieces  dear  to  our 
hearts,  yet  subject  in  some  measure  to  the  same 
criticism.  Reflections  occupy  too  much  space.  They 
are : 

"  Father,  I  know  that  all  my  life 
Is  portioned  out  for  me ;  " 

and : 

My  heart  is  resting,  O  my  God." 

Pieces  that  were  written  first  as  pure  literature,  and 
not  as  materials  for  worship,  are  naturally  more  likely 
to  be  mainly  meditative.  Those  authors  whose  pro- 
fession is  literature  do  not  generally  follow  the  hymn 
model.  And  it  is  well  that  we  should  utilize  in  praise 
matter  that  is  unconventional  and  free  in  its  form. 
This  more  liberal  treatment  has  admitted  to  the  latest 
Hymnals  such  writers  as  Whittier,  Bryant,  Tennyson, 
O.  W.  Holmes,  Longfellow,  Jean  Ingelow,  and  George 
Macdonald. 


GENERAL  SURVEY. 


127 


8.  Rejected  Hymns. 

When  we  remember  that  Charles  Wesley  wrote 
six  thousand  hymns,  that  other  authors  composed 
hundreds,  we  see  that  the  rejected  must  vastly 
outnumber  the  accepted.  In  the  "  struggle  for 
existence,"  the  fittest  have  no  doubt  survived.  The 
elements  that  constitute  unfitness  are  very  varied. 

Some  are  rejected  because  they  indulge  in  fantastic 
metaphors,  ingenious  comparisons,  quips  and  cranks 
of  expression,  or  in  minuteness  of  detail.  Such 
abound  specially  in  the  Elizabethan  era,  which  is 
unaccountably  deficient  in  great  hymn-writers. 

One  by  George  Wither  calls  upon  all  to  join  in 
worship  with  heart,  and  voice,  and  instrument.  The 
trumpet,  the  lute,  and  the  viol  are  the  chosen  instru- 
ments. The  choir  is  arranged  thus  :  humanity  to  be 
choirmaster  ;  birds  to  sing  the  warbling  treble : — 

"  Angels  and  supernal  powers, 

Be  the  noblest  tenor  yours. 

*  *  *  * 

From  earth's  vast  and  hollow  womb 

Music's  deepest  bass  may  come. 

*  *  *  * 

Seas  and  floods  from  shore  to  shore 
Shall  their  counter-tenors  roar." 

The  father  of  Nahum  Tate,  by  name  Faithful 
Tate,  might  have  figured  as  an  approved  hymn- 
writer  to-day  had  he  indulged  less  in  overstrained 
and  whimsical  metaphors.  The  following  belongs  to 
the  rejected,  and  no  wonder  ! 


128 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  HYMNAL. 


"  O  Conscience  !  Conscience  !  when  I  look 
•  Into  thy  register,  thy  book, 

What  corner  of  my  heart,  what  nook. 
Stands  clear  of  sin  ? 

"And  though  my  skin  feels  soft  and  sleek, 
Scarce  can  I  touch  my  chin,  my  cheek, 
But  I  can  feel  Death's  jawbone  prick 
Even  through  my  skin." 

John  Berridge  "  took  up  the  trade  of  hymn- 
making  because  some  jingling  employment  was  re- 
quired which  might  amuse  and  not  fatigue  him."  He 
was  remarkable  for  his  humour  and  eccentricity,  as 
also  for  his  earnestness.  As  an  example  of  his 
eccentric  ways,  he  was  buried  by  his  own  directions 
in  that  section  of  the  churchyard  where  lay  the 
suicides  and  the  banned.  His  object  was  to  remove 
the  stigma,  to  consecrate  the  spot.  His  hymns  are 
as  eccentric  as  his  ways. 

"  Jesus,  Thou  art  the  Rose 

That  blushest  on  the  thorn  ; 
Thy  blood  the  semblance  shows 

When  on  Mount  Calvary  torn : 
A  rugged  tree  Thou  hadst  indeed. 
But  roses  from  a  thorn  proceed." 

George  Herbert  is  almost  as  quaint  and  rich 
in  "  conceits "  as  Francis  Quarles  himself : 

"  The  Sundays  of  man's  life, 

Threaded  together  in  time's  string, 
Make  bracelets  to  adorn  the  wife 
Of  the  Eternal,  glorious  King." 


7 


II. 

EARLY  CHRISTIAN  HYMNS. 

I.  ■nr^HE  primitive  Christian  congregations  were 
J-  secessions  from  the  Jewish  synagogues,  and 
they  carried  the  Hebrew  praise  with  them  into  their 
services.  The  earliest  attempts  at  Christian  hymns 
were  substantially  compositions  of  the  psalms  of 
Miriam,  Hannah,  David.  The  Magnificat "  of  Mary, 
the  "  Benedictus  "  of  Zacharias,  the  Nunc  Dimittis  " 
of  Simeon,  are  all  cast  in  the  phraseology  of  the  praise 
sung  for  long  centuries  previously  in  the  Temple. 

The  "  hymn  "  sung  by  Christ  and  the  Twelve  before 
leaving  the  Passover  and  first  Lord's  Supper  to  face 
Gethsemane's  dread  night  was  the  Great  Hallel 
jf(Psalms  cxiii. — cxviii.) 

The  new  faith  soon  demanded  new  expressions  of  its 
gladness.  Yet  for  several  generations  the  ''hymns 
and  spiritual  songs  "  of  the  Christian  Church  rang  with 
echoes  of  the  sacred  praise  of  the  Temple. 

The  three  most  ancient  hymns,  sole  remnants  of  the 
first  two  centuries,  are  the  "  Tersanctus  "  — - 

'*  Holy,  holy,  holy,  Lord  God  of  hosts 

9 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  HYMNAL. 


retained  in  the  Communion  Service  of  "Common 
Prayer;"  the  "Gloria  in  Excelsis,"  an  expansion  of 
the  Angels'  Song ;  and  the  "  Gloria  Patri,"  sung 
in  various  forms. 

The  first  name  that  meets  us,  the  first  writer  to 
compose  hymns  in  metrical  form,  is 

Clement  of  Alexandria. 
Translated  freely  into  modern  dress,  his  single  piece 
that  remains  appears  in  our  Hymnals  as  : 
"  Shepherd  of  tender  youth, 
Guiding,  in  love  and  truth, 
Through  devious  ways,"  etc. 

Clement  had  spent  his  early  years  at  Athens, 
had,  in  spite  of  a  Christian  parentage,  adopted,  first 
the  Stoic  and  then  the  Eclectic  philosophy, — had 
been  intellectually  ill  at  ease  till  finally  he  learnt  by 
experience  the  wisdom  and  power  of  the  Gospel, 
At  Alexandria  he  lived  and  laboured  for  years  as 
Principal  of  the  Catechetical  College.  Among  his 
pupils  was  the  illustrious  Origen.  His  later  3-ear3 
were  darkened  by  a  storm  of  persecution,  which 
drove  him  from  learned  and  luxurious  Alexandria  to 
distant  Cappadocia.  Among  many  works,  he  wrote 
The  Tiitor^  in  which  appeared  the  hymn  which,  slightly 
recast,  we  sing  to-da}^  It  was  a  hymn  for  the  young, 
written  towards  the  close  of  the  second  century. 

The 

"  Lamplighting  "  Hymn 
can  be  traced  to  a  date  almost  as  early.    Keble  has 


EARLY  CHRISTIAN  HYMNS. 


given  it  to  our  modern  Hymnals  in  the  rich  dress  so 
well  known  : 

'*  Hail,  gladdening  Light,  of  His  pure  glory  poured, 
Who  is  the  immortal  Father,  heavenly,  blest." 

It  is  supposed  to  have  been  sung  at  "  Lamplighting," 
and  hence  its  name. 

2.  Hymns  of  Heresy  and  Orthodoxy. 
The  next  century  is  barren  of  song ;  and  it  is  not 
till  about  350  A.D.  that  we  encounter  other  hymn- 
writers. 

When  we  remember  that  Topiady  wrote  "  Rock  of 
Ages "  partly  to  counteract  the  Arminian  teaching  of 
Wesley,  we  need  not  be  surprised  to  find  that 
orthodoxy  defended  itself  in  early  times  by  means 
^f  hymns. 


Heretical  hymns  had  been  composed  by  the  Gnostic 
Bardesan  of  Edessa  ;  and  with  the  aid  of  his  son, 
Harmonius,  he  had  wedded  them  to  tunes  so  popular 
that  the  very  girls  and  children  knew  them  by  heart 
and  sang  them  at  work  to  the  accompaniment  of  the 
guitar,  and  at  play.*  Bardesan's  hymns,  like  Luther's, 
were  spreading  his  heresies  as  his  teaching  never 
could  have  done. 

But  he  found  his  match  in  Ephraim  the  Syrian, 
who,  to  counteract  these  heresies,  wrote  numerous 
hymns  radiant  with  orthodox  teaching,  set  them  to 
Bardesan's  popular  tunes,  and  trained  companies  of 
young  women,  future  nuns,  to  sing  them  in  chorus. 


*  Smith's  Did.  of  Christian  Biog7'-aphy. 


132 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  HYMNAL. 


They  bewitched  the  people,  and  drowned  out  the 
heresies  of  Bardesan. 

But  controversy  drove  him,  as  it  drove  Wesley  and 
Toplady,  to  desperate  and  indefensible  methods  of 
attack. 

A  heretic,  by  name  Apollinaris,  had  written  two 
volumes  which  he  had  left  in  the  hands  of  a  lady  of 
Edessa.  From  her  Ephraim  succeeded  in  borrowing 
the  books,  pretending  he  was  a  disciple  of  the  author. 
"Before  returning  them  he  glued  the  leaves  together, 
and  then  challenged  the  heretic  to  a  public  disputation. 
Apollinaris  accepted  the  challenge  only  so  far  as  to 
consent  to  read  from  these  books  what  he  had  written, 
declining  more  on  account  of  his  great  age.  They  met; 
but  when  he  endeavoured  to  open  the  books,  he  found 
the  leaves  so  firmly  fastened  together  that  the  attempt 
was  in  vain :  and  he  withdrew  mortified  almost  to  death 
by  his  opponent's  victory." 

Hymns  sprang  from  a  more  critical  controversy.  The 
Avian  v.  The  Athanasian.  Arius,  who  repudiated  the 
Deity  of  Jesus,  had  composed  sacred  songs  to  popu- 
larize his  teaching.  When,  seventy  years  after,  John 
Chrysostom  arrived  at  Constantinople  as  its  bishop,  he 
found  a  strange  state  of  things.  "  The  Arians,"  says 
Dr.  Prescott,  quoting  Gibbon's  Decline  and  Fall,  "  had 
been  forbidden  by  the  Emperor  Theodosius  to  have 
places  of  worship  within  the  city.  But  on  Saturdays 
and  Sundays  and  great  festivals  they  were  in  the  habit 
of  assembhng  outside  the  gates,  then  coming  into  the 
city  in  procession  at  sunset,  and  all  night,  in  the 


EARLY  CHRISTIAN  HYMNS. 


133 


porticoes  and  open  places,  singing  Arian  hymns  and 
anthems  with  choruses.  Chrysostom  feared  that 
many  of  the  simple  and  ignorant  people  would  be 
drawn  from  the  faith.  He  therefore  organized  nightly 
processions  of  orthodox  hymn-singers,  who  carried 
crosses  and  lights,  and  with  music  and  much  pomp 
rivalled  the  efforts  of  the  heretics.  Riots  and  bloodshed 
were  the  consequence.  Very  soon  an  imperial  edict 
put  a  stop  to  Arian  hymn-singing  in  public.  The  use, 
however,  of  hymns  in  the  nocturnal  services  of  the 
Church  became  established." 

Charles  Kingsley  has  drawn  in  Hypatia  a  striking 
and  Hfelike  portrait  of  the  hunting  philosopher-bishop, 

Synesius  of  Cyrene. 

Hypatia,  Alexandria's  great  teacher  of  philosophy, 
powerfully  influenced  his  mind ;  and  on  her  he  always 
looked  with  the  sincerest  veneration.  His  was  more 
than  muscular  Christianity.  In  his  North  African 
diocese  he  divided  his  time  between  writing  poetry, 
talking  philosophy  at  midnight,  and  planting  trees, 
breeding  horses  and  training  dogs  for  hunting.  Ten 
of  his  hymns  are  extant,  most  of  them  amalgams  of 
philosophical  theories  and  Christian  truths. 

Of  this  squire-bishop's "  hymns,  one  is  sung 
to-day  (Hymns  Ancient  and  Modern,  185)  : 

"  Lord  Jesus,  think  on  me, 
And  purge  away  my  sin  ; 
From  earth-born  passions  set  me  free. 
And  make  me  pure  within." 


134 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  HYMNAL. 


3.  Ambrosian  Hymns. 
Various    hymns   are   currently   called  Ambrosian 
which,  however,  are  not  from  the  hand  of  Ambrose. 

Te  Deum. 

The  "  Te  Deum  "  has  been  attributed  to  him.  The 
story  of  its  origin  goes  thus  : — 

On  Easter  night  in  the  year  387  a.d.,  Ambrose 
stood  with  his  convert  Augustine  before  the  principal 
Christian  altar  in  Milan.  The  latter  had  just  been 
baptized — a  mighty  victory  over  Manichean  error ; 
and  the  heart  of  Ambrose  swelled  with  triumph  as  he 
pronounced  the  new  name  of  Augustine  ;  and  perhaps 
he  had  some  dim  prevision  of  the  greatness  to  which 
that  name  should  attain  in  the  army  of  the  Cross.  He 
broke  forth  in  thanksgiving :  We  praise  Thee,  O 
God  !  we  acknowledge  Thee  to  be  the  Lord ! "  And 
the  newly-baptized  answered  in  the  same  strain  :  "All 
the  earth  doth  worship  Thee,  the  Father  everlasting." 
Thus  in  alternate  strophes  they  sang,  as  men  inspired 
by  one  Spirit,  that  sublime  hymn  of  praise  the  "  Te 
Deum,"  which  has  since  been  the  voice  of  the  Church 
for  nearly  fifteen  hundred  years. 

It  is  a  pity  to  spoil  such  a  beautiful  story,  suspiciously 
perfect.  But  the  facts  do  not  support  it.  Ambrose 
was  probably  not  the  author.  Parts  of  it  may  be 
traced  to  the  Eastern  Church  and  an  earlier  date. 
It  is  first  mentioned  a  hundred  and  fifty  years  later, 
in  527,  although  it  is  then  named  as  one  among  other 
Psalms,  well  known  and  of  long  standing. 


EARL  Y  CHRISTIAN  HYMNS. 


135 


It  is,  however,  under  any  circumstances,  one  of  the 
most  ancient  of  Christian  hymns,  and,  with  its  mag- 
nificent roll  of  praise,  one  of  the  grandest.  Its  theme 
is  the  Trinity  and  the  redemption  of  man  by  Christ. 

Probably  it  was  originally  addressed  to  Christ  and 
not  to  the  Trinity.  We  know  from  Pliny  that  the  early 
Christians  sang  their  morning  hymn,  Christo  quasi 
Deo  " — "  To  Christ  as  to  God  ; "  and  it  is  quite  probable 
that  this  hymn  in  its  first  shape,  before  the  contro- 
versies on  the  Trinity  arose,  ran  :  We  praise  Thee 
as  God  :  we  acknowledge  Thee  the  Lord." 

It  was  first  sung  in  English  at  Herne  Church,  of 
which  Ridley  was  vicar  from  1538  to  1549- 

4.  Ambrose, 

a  consular  magistrate  at  Milan,  maintained  order 
so  wisely  among  Arian  and  Orthodox  factions  in  their 
choice  of  a  bishop,  that  the  tumultuous  company 
demanded  "Ambrose  for  bishop!"  The  cry  was  said 
to  have  been  raised  by  a  child. 

He  shrank  from  the  responsibihty,  but,  constrained 
to  consent,  he  became  the  most  powerful  bishop  of  his 
generation.  Sovereigns  had  to  bow  in  obedience  to 
his  will. 

The  Empress  Justina,  an  Arian,  resolved  to  depose 
the  bishop.  But  the  people  of  Milan  rose  en  masse 
to  champion  his  cause.  They  rallied  round  him,  kept 
guard  over  his  person  day  and  night,  and  prepared  to 
perish  with  him  in  case  of  need.  To  the  devoted 
assembly  he  preached  ferv^ent  and  brave  sermons.  He 


136 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  HYMNAL. 


wrote  hymns  and  psalms  to  cheer  and  embolden 
them ;  and  for  some  of  his  h3^mns  he  composed  suitable 
tunes.  Again  his  courageous  stand  was  rewarded  by 
success.  So  Ambrose,  the  John  Knox  of  his  day,  beat 
the  Empress. 

Ambrose  is  the  Father  of  the  Western  Hymn." 
He  did  for  public  worship  in  Italy  what  David  did  for 
it  at  Jerusalem. 

The  hymn-singing  in  the  Milan  BasiHca  is  described 
in  glowing  terms  by  Augustine.  The  Ambrosian 
chant  deeply  affected  him.  ^'  The  voices  flowed  in  at 
my  ears,  truth  was  distilled  into  my  heart,  and  the 
affection  of  piety  overflowed  in  sweet  tears  of  joy." 
He  organized  a  ''high"  service.  "  Antiphons,  hymns, 
and  vigils "  were  sung,  and  he  practised  and  advo- 
cated an  ascetic  life. 

His  reputation  as  a  hymn-writer  and  composer  was 
so  great  that  numerous  sacred  pieces  and  chants  that 
he  never  saw  have  been  stamped  with  his  name.  The 
Te  Deum  and  Ambrosian  Hymn  are  specimens  of  the 
ninety  falsely  attributed  to  him. 

Ten  hymns  can  with  moderate  accuracy  be  ascribed 
to  Ambrose. 

5.  Prudentius, 

the  early  Spanish  hymn-writer,  the  "Christian  Pindar," 
celebrating  the  martyrs  in  song,  wrote,  about  410  a.d., 
one  of  our  Christmas  hymns  : 

"  Of  the  Father's  love  begotten." 


EARLY  CHRISTIAN  HYMNS. 


137 


Anatolius 

was  Bishop  of  Constantinople,  but  is  known  to  us  best 
as  the  author  of 

"  The  day  is  past  and  over, 

All  thanks,  O  Lord,  to  Thee." 

Hence  the  name  of  Dykes'  tune — St.  AnatoHus — to 
which  the  words  are  set.  '^This  little  hymn,"  says 
Dr.  Neale,  the  translator,  "  is  a  great  favourite  in  the 
Greek  Isles.  ...  It  is  to  the  scattered  hamlets  of  Chios 
and  Mitylene  what  Bishop  Ken's  Evening  Hymn  is  to 
the  villages  of  his  own  land,  and  its  melody  singularly 
plaintive  and  soothing." 

6.  Gregory  the  Great 

stands  on  the  border-land  between  the  early  Christian 
and  the  mediaeval  periods. 

In  early  manhood  we  see  him  first  Senator  and  then 
Prefect  of  the  Eternal  City,  walking  through  its  streets 
in  silk  robe  sparkling  with  gems.  A  few  years  later 
we  find  him  renouncing  almost  all  his  patrimony, 
founding  monasteries,  and  himself  becoming  a  monk. 

When  the  news  arrived  that  he  was  Pope  Gregory, 
he  disguised  himself  and  fled  from  the  city  to  a  forest 
cave.  He  was  soon  discovered  by  the  pursuing  people 
and  ordained  at  Rome. 

He  devoted  himself  to  the  reformation — improve- 
ment, shall  we  say,  or  otherwise  ?— of  sacred  music. 
The  Ambrosian  singing  had  been  antiphonal,  congrega- 
tional, and  melodious.  Gregory  regarded  it  as  frivolous, 


138 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  HYMNAL. 


and  instituted  the  monotone,  with  only  a  few  inflexions. 
This 

Gregorian  Music 

had  no  bars,  no  measure  of  time,  no  harmonies,  no 
rhythm,  no  sharps,  no  flats,  and  was  sung  by  the 
choir  alone.  Gregorian  chants,  intonations,  recitations, 
cadences  have  been  cultivated  largely  in  cathedrals, 
and  have  shared  the  popularity,  or  unpopularity,  of  the 
Rituahstic  school. 

He  founded  a  song-school  in  Rome,  endowed  it 
with  some  farms,  built  for  it  two  habitations.  There, 
to  the  present  day,  his  couch,  on  which  he  used 
to  rechne  when  singing,  and  his  whip  with  which 
he  menaced  the  boys,  are  preserved  with  fitting 
reverence." 

The  Gregorian  music  was  a  powerful  aid  to  the 
missionaries  of  Gregory  in  captivating  the  pagan 
people  of  Kent.  The  story  of  this  mission  is  worth 
re-telling. 

Ere  yet  he  was  Pope,  Gregory  one  day  saw  in  the 
Roman  Forum  some  boys  ^'with  fair  skin,  comely  faces, 
and  bright  flowing  hair."    They  were  to  be  sold  as 
slaves.    In  pity  for  them,  he  asked  whence  they  came. 
From  Britain." 

"  Were  the  inhabitants  of  that  island  Christians 
or  pagans  ?  " 

"  Pagans." 

Alas  ! "  heaving  a  deep  sigh,  Alas  !  that  men  of 
such  lucid  countenance  should  be  possessed  by  the 


EARLY  CHRISTIAN  HYMNS.  '  139 


author  of  darkness,  and  that  such  grace  of  form  should 
hide  minds  void  of  grace  within." 

Being  told  that  they  were  called  ''Angli/'  "Well 
called  so,"  he  exclaimed,  for  they  have  angelic 
faces,  and  should  be  co-heirs  in  heaven  of  angels. 
What  is  the  name  of  the  province  from  which  they 
come  ?  " 

"  Deiri." 

"  True  again  :  de  via  Dei  eruti,  et  ad  misericordiam 
Christi  vocati." 

On  hearing  that  the  king  of  the  province  bore  the 
name  Aella,  he  said,  Alleluia !  the  praises  of  God 
the  Creator  must  be  sung  in  those  parts." 

He  himself  started  off  to  evangelize  the  "Angli," 
but  was  brought  back  to  fill  the  Papal  Chair.  Unable 
to  go  in  person,  he  sent  Augustine  and  others  to  tha 
shores  of  southern  Britain.  This  momentous  mission 
was  accompanied  by  a  band  of  choristers,  whose 
plaintive  chanting  helped  to  gain  the  Saxon  people  and 
their  king,  Ethelbert,  to  Christianity. 

"  Come,  Holy  Ghost,  our  souls  inspire. 
And  lighten  with  celestial  fire," 

is  ascribed  to  Gregory  the  Great.  In  the  Romish 
Church  it  is  used  at  the  consecration  of  a  Pope ;  in  the 
Anghcan  Church  at  the  consecration  of  a  Bishop. 

Some  nine  hymns  are  attributed  to  Gregory,  of 
which  the  above,  "  Veni,  Creator  Spiritus,"  is  the 
best  known. 


III. 


HYMNS  FROM  THE  CLOISTERS. 


.  The  Monks  of  Mar  Saba. 


o 


NE  of  the  choicest  of  Christian  h3'mns — 

"  Art  thou  weary,  art  thou  languid, 
Art  thou  sore  distrest  ?  " — 


came  from  the  lonely  monastery  of  Mar  Saba.  Its 
history  takes  us  into  a  small  compan}^  of  hymn-writing 
monks  in  the  eighth  century,  somewhat  resembling 
the  Keble-Newman  coterie  at  Oxford  eleven  centuries 
later. 

There  were  three  of  them,  and  their  lives  were  bound 
up  together. 


or  St.  John  of  Damascus,  was  the  great  poet  of  the 
Eastern  Church,  the  defender  of  Images  or  Icons.  His 
father  had  adopted  an  orphan  boy  into  his  family,  the 
future 


St.  John  Damascene^ 


St.  Cosma. 

These  two  foster-brothers  played  together,  learned 


HYMNS  FROM  THE  CLOISTERS. 


141 


together,  composed  youthful  hymns  in  friendly  com- 
petition, and  retired  together  to  the  monastery  at 
Mar  Saba. 

A  nephew  of  St.  John's,  the  future 

^  St.  Stephen^  the  Sabaite^ 

author  of  the  hymn  translated  by  Dr.  Neale  in  the 
familiar  lines  already  quoted, 

"  Art  thou  weary,  art  thou  languid  ?  " 

was  placed  in  this  monastery  at  ten  years  of  age.  He 
spent  the  remainder  of  his  life,  sixty  years,  in  this 
place  along  with  uncle  and  foster-uncle,  and  together 
the  three  cultivated  their  love  of  sacred  poetry. 

Noble  as  are  some  of  the  hymns  of  the  foster- 
brothers,  those  from  the  hand  of  the  youngest  member 
of  the  trio  stand  above  the  rest  in  unique  simplicity 
and  tender  beauty. 

The  author  of  the  admirable  Anglican  Hymnology 
describes  a  visit  he  paid  to  the  scene  of  the  writing 
of    Art  thou  weary  2^'' 

"  The  monastery  stands  nobly  on  a  lofty  cHff  over- 
hanging the  valley  of  the  Kedron,  which  here  forms 
a  deep  chasm.  It  was  founded  in  the  beginning  of 
the  sixth  century,  and  this  secluded  convent  has 
therefore  stood  in  the  midst  of  savage  desolation 
for  fourteen  centuries.  Several  times  in  the  course 
of  ages  it  has  been  plundered,  and  the  inmates  put  to 
death,  by  Persians,  Moslems,  and  Bedouin  Arabs  ;  and 
therefore,  for  the  sake  of  safety,  the  monastery  is 
surrounded  by  massive  walls.     Inside  the  gate  we 


142 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  HYMNAL. 


found  chapels,  chambers,  and  cells  innumerable,  for 
the  most  part  cut  out  of  the  rock,  perched  one  above 
the  other,  and  connected  by  rocky  steeps  and  intricate 
passages.  The  huge  building  seems  as  if  it  were  cling- 
ing to  the  face  of  a  steep  precipice,  so  that  it  is  difficult 
to  distinguish  man's  masonry  from  the  natural  rock. 

The  Sabaites  at  present  number  about  forty,  and 
their  rule  is  very  severe,  being  under  a  vow  never 
to  eat  animal  food.  They  have  five  religious  services 
by  day  and  two  by  night.  We  were  shown  their  gaily 
decorated  chapel,  the  tomb  of  St.  Sabas,  the  tomb  of 
John  of  Damascus,  and  a  cave  chapel  containing 
thousands  of  skulls  of  martyred  monks. 

"  We  were  led  to  the  belfry  on  the  roof  of  their 
little  sanctuary,  and  saw  the  bells  which  send  forth 
their  beautiful  chimes  and  gladden  the  hearts  of 
pilgrims,  who,  'weary  and  languid,'  pursue  their  journey 
through  the  desolate  wilderness.  The  bells  of  Mar 
Saba  recalled  to  mind  the  soothing  words  : 

' ' '  Far,  far  away,  like  bells  at  evening  pealing, 

The  voice  of  Jesus  sounds  o'er  land  and  sea.' 

"We  were  then  conducted  to  a  terrace,  from  the  dizzy 
height  of  which  we  looked  down  into  the  deep  gorge 
of  the  Kedron,  five  hundred  feet  below.  Every  morning 
wolves  and  jackals  assemble  at  the  bottom  of  the  rocks, 
and  are  fed  by  the  monks,  who  cast  down  food  to  the 
ravenous  animals.  Viewed  from  this  terrace,  the  scene 
around  and  below  is  one  of  stern  desolation,  and  a 
sight  so  impressive  as  never  to  be  forgotten.  Here 


HYMNS  I^ROM  THE  CLOISTERS.  143 

Stephanos,  eleven  centuries  ago,  wrote  the  touching 
hymn  : 

"  'Art  thou  weary,  art  thou  languid? 

2.  The  Monks  of  the  Studium. 

At  the  great  Abbey  at  Constantinople,  named  the 
Studium, 

St.  Joseph  of  the  Studium 

lived  the  life  of  a  monk.  His  early  manhood  had  been 
adventurous ;  his  later  life  he  -spent  in  pouring  out 
large  numbers  of  hymns.    His  is  the  original  of 

"  O  happy  band  of  pilgrims, 
If  onward  ye  will  tread." 

His  also  the  inspiration  of  Dr.  Neale's 

"  Safe  home,  safe  home  in  port, 

Rent  cordage,  shattered  deck, 

Torn  sails,  provisions  short, 

And  only  not  a  wreck  : 
But  oh  !  the  joy  upon  the  shore 
To  tell  our  voyage  perils  o'er." 

3.  The   Two  Bernards. 

Bernard  of  Clairvaux. 

The  Normans  had  conquered  the  Saxons  and  were 
robbing  them  of  their  lands  when  (1091)  Bernard  was 
born.  His  father,  a  rich  baron  of  Burgundy,  was  a 
vassal  of  the  Duke  of  Burgundy  who  shared  in  the 
first  Crusade. 

He  was  nineteen  when  his  mother  died,  and  her 


144 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  HYMNAL. 


pious  death-bed  awoke  him  to  earnest  thought,  and  led 
him  three  years  later  to  devote  himself  to  a  severe 
monastic  life.  So  enthusiastic  was  he,  so  strong  his 
persuasive  power,  that  four  of  his  brothers  were  drawn 
by  him  to  join  the  monastery  of  Citeaux,  two  of  them 
abandoning  their  wives  to  do  so.  Even  his  father  for- 
sook his  baron's  castle  to  become  a  monk  like  his  son. 
His  sister  would  not  desert  her  husband  to  join  a  con- 
vent, and  he  refused  to  see  her  when  she  came  to  visit 
him  :  piety  could  exist  only  in  a  convent,  he  believed. 
She  afterwards  entered  one.  Mothers  hid  their  sons, 
wives  their  husbands,  companions  their  friends,"  lest 
they  should  fall  under  his  fascinating  influence. 

An  Englishman,  Harding,  w^as  at  the  head  of  this 
small  monastery,  his  rule  austere.  He  strove  to  crush 
the  bodily  senses,  took  food  only  to  keep  himself  from 
fainting.    This  excessive  severity  suited  Bernard. 

His  genius  as  well  as  his  devotion  was  soon 
recognised.  He  was  chosen  to  lead  a  band  of  monks 
to  found  a  new  monastery.  A  well-wooded  valley — 
afterwards  named  Clairvaux,  "  Clara  Vallis,"  Bright 
Valley " — was  selected.  At  first  it  was  a  struggle  for 
existence.  At  times  they  could  find  no  food  better 
than  beechnuts  and  beech  leaves  boiled  in  water. 
Their  first  and  only  meal  was  taken  at  two  o'clock  in 
the  afternoon,  twelve  hours  after  they  rose, — a  meal 
generally  of  vegetables  and  water. 

Two  rival  Popes  arose,  and  such  was  the  influence 
which  Bernard  had  gained,  that  he  was  called  upon  to 
advise  the  French  king  and  council  upon  their  choice. 


HYMNS  FROM  THE  CLOISTERS.  145 


His  advice  was  followed,  and  Innocent  II.  became 
Pope.  He  became  the  greatest  ecclesiastical  teacher 
and  the  most  noted  preacher  of  the  time.  His  sermons 
on  the  "  Song  of  Solomon  "  and  the  Psalms  threw  their 
spell  over  knights  and  monks,  peasants  and  princes 
alike.  A  band  of  fifteen  young  knights  came  from  the 
University  to  hear  him,  and  were  so  impressed  that 
they  entered  the  monastery.  The  same  lot  befel  the 
son  of  the  King  of  France. 

His  preaching  was  almost  evangelical ;  although  the 
liberal  teaching  of  Abelard  was  bitterly  assailed  by 
him,  and  led  to  the  great  dispute  of  the  century.  Able 
to  make  Popes,  he  persecuted  his  opponent  with  much 
severity. 

This  austere  monk  and  intellectual  giant  passed  away 
in  1 153.  Luther  calls  him  ''the  best  monk  that  ever 
Hved." 

"Jesus,  Thou  joy  of  loving  hearts  ;  "  . 
^  "  Jesus,  the  very  thought  of  Thee,"    ' ' '  Mj^^ 

are  both  taken  from  Bernard's  poem,  two  hundred  lines 
in  length,y  beginning  : 

"  Jesus,  dulcis  memoria." 

The  latter  is  a  translation  by  Caswall,  the  former  by 
Ray  Palmer,  the  author  of 

"  Nearer,  my  God,  to  Thee." 
"  O  sacred  Head  once  w^ounded  " 
is  a  translation,  by  Dr.  J.  W.  Alexander,  Professor  at 
Princeton,  of  the  translation  of  a  part  of  Bernard's 
hymn  into  German  by  Gerhardt : 

*'  O  Haupt  voll  Blut  und  vvunden." 

10 


146 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  HYMNAL. 


Bernard  of  Cliiny^ 


or  Bernard  of  Morlaix,  the  latter  marking  his  birth- 
place .(although  of  English  parentage),  the  former  the 
scene  of  his  life. 

He  lived  and  died  a  monk  at  the  glorious  abbey  of 
Cluny.  His  famous  poem  he  dedicated  to  Peter  the 
Venerable,  the  Abbot-General  of  his  Order.  It 
contains  about  three  thousand  lines,  and  bears  the 
title  On  the  Contempt  of  the  World,^^  contrasting  the 
world's  wickedness  with  the  blessed  country  above. 

A  translation  of  four  hundred  and  forty-two  lines  was 
made  by  Dr.  J.  M.  Neale,  of  which  three  portions  are 
well  known  and  much  loved. 

They  may  be  charged  with  that  other-worldliness  " 
of  which  George  Eliot  wrote.  But  in  this  they  bear  the 
marks  of  a  century — the  twelfth — when  the  wickedness 
of  the  world  was  so  deep  and  dark  as  to  compel  earnest 
souls  to  long  for  a  better  country.  ^  ^ 


appear  in  most  Hymnals. 

4.  From  a  Prison  and  a  Palace. 

"  All  glory,  laud,  and  honour 
To  Thee,  Redeemer,  King," 

is  in  English  dress  the  Latin  hymn  of 

Theodulph, 

Bishop  of  Orleans. 


"  Brief  life  is  here  our  portion  ; " 
"  For  thee,  O  dear,  dear  country ; " 
'*  Jerusalem  the  golden," 


HYMNS  FROM  THE  CLOISTERS. 


147 


The  story  goes  that  the  Emperor  Lewis,  successor  to 
Charlemagne,  suspected  the  bishop  of  conspiring  against 
the  throne,  and  flung  him  into  prison  at  Metz.  While 
in  his  cell  he  composed  the  above  hymn. 

As  the  emperor,  his  court,  and  the  priests  were 
passing  the  prison  in  solemn  procession  on  their  way 
to  the  cathedral,  Theodulph,  or  some  choristers  under 
his  orders,  sang  aloud : 

"  All  glory,  laud,  and  honour." 

The  emperor  was  so  impressed  with  the  devout  song  of 
praise  that  he  at  once  gave  instructions  for  the  release 
of  the  falsely-accused  bishop. 

King  Robert  II.  of  France 

had  an  unruly  wife,  Constantia,  and  a  turbulent  people. 
Whether  or  not  he  was  feeble  as  a  sovereign,  he  was 
skilful  as  a  hymn-writer.  One  of  his  hymns,  highly 
valued  still,  reflects  the  troubles  of  his  reign  and  home  : 

"  Come,  Thou  Holy  Spirit,  come, 
And  from  Thy  celestial  throne 
Shed  a  ray  of  light  Divine." 

At  the  great  dispute  between  Luther  and  Ech  before  the 
Elector  of  Saxony,  a  Latin  discourse  was  delivered,  the 
whole  company  knelt  at  the  sound  of  music,  and  this 
hymn, 

"  Come,  Thou  Holy  Spirit,  come," 
was  solemnly  chanted.* 


*  Dr.  Prescott's  Christia7i  Hymns. 


I4S  ROMAXCE  OF  THE  HYMXAL. 


3.  Dies  Ir.^:. 

This  most  dramatic  and  thrilling  of  all  h3'mns  was 
written  in  Latin  about  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth 
centur}'  by  Thomas  of  Celano. 

It  is  dramatic,  for  it  is  the  cry  of  a  soul  struck  with 
awe  at  the  "  Dreadful  Day,"  the  earth  in  ashes,  the 
trumpet's  call,  the  Judge  seated.  Then  the  trembling 
inquiry : 

\Miat  shall  I,  frail  man,  be  pleading? 
\Mio  for  me  be  interceding  ?  " 

With  this  tragic  event  in  view,  the  speaker  cries  : 

* '  Grant  thy  gift  of  absolution 
Ere  that  reckning  day's  conclusion." 

The  first  to  translate  it  into  English  was  Crashaw,  but 
his  was  a  free  paraphrase. 

Sir  Walter  Scott  imitated  the  first  three  stanzas  in  his 
hymn  at  the  close  of    The  Lay  of  the  Last  Minstrel : " 

"  That  day  of  \^Tath,  that  dreadful  day 
When  heaven  and  earth  shall  pass  away. 
What  power  shall  be  the  sinners  stay, 
How  shall  he  meet  that  dreadful  da}'  ?  " 

John  Newton  also  made  a  paraphrase  of  this  grand 
sequence  : 

"  Day  of  Judgment,  day  of  wonders."' 
Several  translations  of  the  "  Dies  Irae"  exist.    One  is 
by  Dean  Stanley,  beginning  : 

"  Day  of  wrath,  O  dreadful  day," 
and  appeared  first  in  Macmillan' s  Magazine  in  1868. 


HYMNS  FROM  THE  CLOISTERS. 


49 


Another  version  appears  in  the  Presbyterian  Hymnal^ 
by  Dr.  W.  B.  Robertson,  of  Irvine  : 

"  Day  of  anger,  all  arresting." 

But  the  most  perfect  is  that  by  Dr.  Irons,  of  St.  Mary 
Woolnoth  (ob.  1883): 

"  Day  of  wrath,  O  day  of  mourning." 


IV. 


HYMNS  OF  THE  REFORMATION. 
ERMA_NY   more  than   any  other   country  has 


^^-^^  enriched  the  praise  of  Christendom.  It  has 
produced  probably  not  less  than  a  hundred  thousand 
hymns.  The  explanation  lies  in  the  fact  that  con- 
gregational singing  was  one  of  the  chief  features  of 
the  Reformation  in  Germany. 


is  th^e  father  of  German  hymnology. 

"Evfery  one  remembers  how  as  a  lad  he  sang  in  the 
streets  for  alms.  How  as  a  monk  he  toiled  and  travailed 
in  the  resolute  search  for  peace ;  how  Staupitz  guided 
his  search  to  the  atonement  of  Christ  for  sin ;  how  he 
found  and  ravenously  devoured  a  copy  of  the  Bible, 
and,  as  he  read,  saw  the  new  light ;  how  he  paid  a  visit 
to  Rome ;  how  he  nailed  his  Theses  to  the  church  door 
at  Wittenberg ;  how  he  burned  the  Papal  Bull ;  how  he 
gave  the  New  Testament  to  the  people  in  their  own 
language ;  and  how  he  shook  the  world,"  every  one 
knows. 

Coleridge   slightly,  but  only  slightly,  exaggerates 


I.  Martin  Luther 


HYMNS  OF  THE  REFORMATION. 


51 


when  he  says  that  Luther  did  as  much  for  the 
Reformation  by  his  hymns  as  by  his  translation  of 
the  Bible." 

"The  hymns  of  Luther  have  destroyed  more  souls 
than  his  writings  and  sermons,"  is  the  view  taken  by  a 
Romanist  writer.  "  It  is  my  intention,"  says  he  to  his 
friend  Spalatin,  after  the  example  of  the  prophets  and 
the  ancient  fathers,  to  make  German  psalms  for  the 
people ;  that  is,  spiritual  songs,  whereby  the  Word  of 
God  may  be  kept  alive  among  them  by  singing.  We 
seek,  therefore,  everywhere  for  poets.  .  .  . 

"But  I  desire  that  all  new-fangled  words  from  the 
Court  should  be  left  out ;  that  the  words  might  be  all 
quite  plain  and  common,  such  as  the  common  people 
may  understand,  yet  pure,  and  skilfully  handled."* 
'"Luther  wrote  in  all  nearly  forty  hymns.  Many  he 
translated  from  Latin  sources.  He  invited  two  cele- 
brated choirmasters  to  live  with  him  and  assist  him  in 
recasting  the  Liturgy  for  the  Reformed  Church. 

He  and  his  "  house-choir "  ransacked  the  ancient 
stores  of  sacred  music,  and  adapted  for  common  use 
many  chorales,  Latin  and  German.    Several  he  himself 
composed,  one  of  lasting  fame,  to  which  his  own  hymn, 
"A safe  stronghold  our  God  is  still," 

is  sung. 

He  kept  four  printers  at  Erfurt  busy  producing  and 
publishing  his  hymns.  "  The  whole  people,"  said  a 
Romanist  with  bitter  dismay,  "are  singing  themselves 
into  this  Lutheran  doctrine." 


*  Miss  Winkvvorth. 


152  ROMANCE  OF  THE  HYMNAL. 

The  grandest  of  his  hymns,  bidding  defiance  to  all 
opposing  hosts,  blowing  the  trumpet-blast  of  the 
Reformation,  is  a  translation  of  the  forty-sixth  Psalm — 

"  Ein  feste  Burg  ist  unser  Gott," 
translated  in  rugged  lines  by  Carlyle  : 

**  A  safe  stronghold  our  God  is  still, 
A  trusty  shield  and  weapon." 

There  is  some  support  for  the  belief  that  it  was 
written  on  his  way  to  Worms,  to  the  epoch-making 
Diet. 

The  Emperor  Charles  V.  had  summoned  him  to 
appear  and  recant.  His  friends  urged  him  not  to  go. 
His  answer,  sent  to  Spalatin,  is  a  memorable  one  : — 
"  If  there  were  as  many  devils  in  Worms  as  there 
are  tiles  on  the  roofs,  I  would  go  and  not  be  afraid. 
If  Huss  was  burnt  to  ashes,  the  truth  was  not  burnt 
with  him."  The  resemblance  of  these  words  to  the 
third  verse  of  his  hymn — 

"  And  were  this  world  all  devils  o'er,"  etc., 
gives  colour  to  the  common  belief  as  to  the  occasion  of 
its  composition. 

Heine  has  well  called  it  ''The  Marseillaise  of  the 
Reformation."  Over  his  grave  at  Wittenberg  the  first 
line  is  carved  as  his  epitaph. 

More  popular  even  than  this  hymn  was  his  second, 
his  Gospel  one.  It  crystallized  the  central  truths  of 
the  Evangelical  faith  : 

"  Dear  Christian  people,  now  rejoice." 
We  are  told  that  *'  a  number  of  princes  belonging  to 


HYMNS  OF  THE  REFORMA7'0I^'O  'vlOfe 


the  reformed  rehgion  behig  assemblecf^at  ^ank|i0rt, 
they  wished  to  have  an  evang^^ffi^^^Qviie'^in  the 
Church  of  St.  Bartholomew.  A  large  congregation 
gathered,  but  the  pulpit  was  occupied  by  a  Roman 
Catholic  priest,  who  proceeded  to  preach  according  to 
his  own  views.  After  Hstening  for  some  time  in 
indignant  silence,  the  whole  congregation  rose  and 
began  to  sing  this  hymn,  till  they  fairly  sang  the 
priest  out  of  church." 

2.  NiCOLAI 

lived  through  a  terrible  pestilence  which  ravaged  the 
town  in  Westphalia  of  which  he  was  pastor.  Over  a 
thousand  of  the  dead  passed  his  window  to  the  ceme- 
tery. These  saddening  sights  made  him  think  much 
of  death  and  heaven,  and  coloured  his  writings. 
Two  of  his  hymns  have  become  popular,  one  : 

"  Wake,  awake,  the  night  is  flying." 

He  composed  a  chorale  for  this  hymn,  which  appears 
in  Mendelssohn's  St.  PauL 

3.  GusTAvus  Adolphus, 

the  hero  of  the  Thirty  Years'  War,  had  come  from 
Sweden  to  the  rescue  of  the  Protestant  forces.  Before 
the  great  battle  of  Leipsic  he  had  given  "  God  with 
us"  to  his  troops  as  their  battle-cry.  When  the  battle 
was  won  he  wrote  his  triumphal  hymn : 

"  Fear  not,  O  Httle  flock,  the  foe," 


154 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  HYMNAL. 


the  last  stanza  of  which  points  to  the  watchword  of  the 
day  : 

"  God  is  with  us,  we  are  His  own, 
Our  victory  cannot  fail." 

A  year  later  we  find  him  leading  on  his  troops  to 
meet  Wallenstein,  singing  his  own  hymn  and  Luther's, 
"  A  safe  stronghold."  It  was  the  fatal  fight  of  Lutzen, 
in  which  the  hero,  the  Lion  of  the  North,  fell. 

4.  RiNCKART. 

The  Thirty  Years'  War,  with  its  horrors  and  long- 
drawn  miseries,  produced  many  other  celebrated 
hymns. 

One  by  Rinckart,  pastor  at  Eilenburg,  is  introduced 
by  Mendelssohn  into  his  Hymn  of  Praise.  It  has  been 
called  the  German     Te  Deum  "  : 

"  Now  thank  we  all  our  God, 
With  hearts  and  hands  and  voices." 

This  great  hymn  had  a  remarkable  origin.  The 
story  is  told  in  full  in  The  Sunday  at  Home  (August 
1888). 

The  long  war  with  pestilence  and  famine  had  ravaged 
Eilenburg.    Its  remaining  inhabitants  were  in  despair. 

Rinckart  was  sitting  at  his  study  window  one  day 
watching  the  white  snow  which  lay  thick  on  road  and 
roof,  and  threatened  to  deepen  the  people's  distress. 

Suddenly  the  sound  of  a  trumpet  struck  his  ear. 
'Just  God,'  cried  the  clergyman,  'more  foreign 
soldiers ;  what  will    become  of  us  ?    We  have  not 


HYMNS  OF  THE  REFORMATION. 


155 


enough  to  satisfy  our  own  hunger ;  and  now  these 
foreigners  will  take  from  our  mouths  the  last  morsel 
of  bread.' 

"Again  the  trumpet  sounded,  and  now  much  nearer 
than  before.  At  the  same  moment  Rinckart's  faithful 
wife  entered  the  room,  and  in  spite  of  her  advanced 
age,  came  up  to  him  with  unwonted  speed.  *  You  are 
sitting  here,  Martin,  meditating,  while  out  there — out 
in  the  street — all  the  people  are  hurrying  and  crowding 
round  the  horseman.  Go  and  see  what  news  the  man 
brings.  It  must  be  something  extraordinary,  for  the 
people  are  all  rejoiffing.' 

"  The  old  man  now  rose  and  placed  his  little  satin 
cap  on  his  head  :  '  What  will  it  be  ? '  he  replied,  with 
a  mournful  shake  of  the  head.  *  The  news  of  some 
victory,  of  some  fresh  bloodshed.  When  will  the 
scourge  be  ended  ?  When  will  men  leave  off  murder- 
ing one  another  ?  The  poor  victims  are  equally  to  be 
pitied  whether  the  trumpeter  wears  the  Imperial  or  the 
Swedish  uniform.' 

'  You  are  wrong,  Martin.  It  is  a  Saxon  soldier, 
probably  sent  by  our  gracious  Elector  from  his  palace 
at  Torgau.' 

Rinckart  hastened  to  the  door.  He  found  the  street 
all  in  a  state  of  joyful  excitement,  the  people  fell  weep- 
ing into  his  arms.  For  the  trumpeter  had  brought  the 
news  that  peace  had  been  concluded  on  October  24th, 
at  Munster  in  Westphaha.  He  had  been  commissioned 
by  the  Elector  to  convey  the  joyful  tidings  to  the  Council 
and  the  University  of  Leipsic,  and  then  to  proceed  to  all 


156 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  HYMNAL. 


the  principal  towns,  to  make  known  the  great  news 
everywhere. 

While  the  trumpeter,  followed  by  the  people,  moved 
on,  Rinckart  returned  to  his  study  and  offered  up  a 
sile»nt  prayer  of  thanksgiving  to  heaven.  Then  he  opened 
his  Bible,  and  his  eye  fell  on  the  twenty-second  verse 
of  the  fiftieth  chapter  of  the  apocryphal  book  of  Ecclesi- 
asticus,  '  Nun  danket  alle  Gott,  der  grosse  Dinge 
thut  an  alien  Enden.'  '  Now^  therefore ^  bless  ye  the  God 
of  ally  which  only  doeth  wondrous  things  everywhere^ 
which  exalteth  our  days  from  the  womb,  and  dealeth  with 
us  according  to  His  mercies.  He  grant  us  joyfulness 
of  heart  and  that  peace  may  be  in  our  days  in  Israel  for 
ever.^ 

Urged  on,  as  it  were,  by  an  invisible  power,  he  sat 
down  at  his  writing  table,  and  as  though  the  angel  of 
peace  who  had  at  last  overcome  the  demon  of  war  were 
whispering  in  his  ear,  verse  by  verse  the  hymn  of 
thanksgiving  rose  from  the  very  depth  of  his  heart : 

"  '  Nun  danket  alle  Gott 

Mit  Herzen,  Mund  und  Handen.' 

"  '  Now  thank  we  all  our  God, 
With  hearts  and  hands  and  voices, 

Who  wondrous  things  hath  done. 
In  Whom  His  world  rejoices  ; 

Who  from  our  mothers'  arms 

Hath  blessed  us  on  our  way 

With  countless  gifts  of  love, 

And  still  is  ours  to-day.'  " 


And  as  he  wrote  the  last  line,  a  soft  melody  seemed  to 


HYMNS  OF  THE  REFORMATION. 


157 


Strike  his  ear.  Again  he  took  up  his  pen,  and  in  a  few 
minutes  he  had  committed  to  paper  the  air  so  simple 
and  so  wonderfully  inspiriting. 

"  The  horseman  had  meanwhile  dismounted,  but  the 
inhabitants  of  the  town,  full  of  joyful  emotion,  gathered 
in  front  of  the  Pfarrhaus  and  waited  for  their  minister. 
He  came  out  to  them  in  his  clerical  robes,  and  in 
earnest  words  the  venerable  man  praised  Providence 
for  their  deliverance ;  then  with  all  his  flock  he  knelt 
down,  and  drawing  from  his  pocket  the  hymn  he  had 
just  composed,  he  began  to  sing  it.  For  the  first  time, 
the  new-born  tune  sounded  from  the  lips  of  the  old 
man,  and  when  he  ended,  those  present,  deeply  moved 
and  grateful,  surrounded  their  faithful  minister  and 
grasped  his  hand." 

The  famine  was  ended,  the  strain  relaxed ;  but  the 
prolonged  suffering  and  struggle  had  left  him  in 
shattered  health,  and  within  a  year  he  was  buried 
amidst  the  raining  tears  of  the  devoted  population. 


V. 


CLASSIC  ENGLISH  POETS. 
NGLISH  poets  who  have  contributed  to  the  praise 


-* — '  of  the  Church  —  besides  Cowper  (p.  195) — 
are  Milton,  Dryden,  Sir  Walter  Scott,  Addison,  and 
Kirke  White. 

It  will  be  enough,  in  the  case  of  such  great  names, 
to  mention  merely  their  contributions  to  our  Hymnals. 

I.  Milton 

has  one  hymn  in  common  use — 

"  Let  us  with  a  gladsome  mind 
Praise  the  Lord,  for  He  is  kind." 

He  wrote  it  when  only  fifteen  years  of  age,  when  at 
St.  Paul's  School.  It  is  based  on  Psalm  cxxxvi.,  and, 
entire,  consists  of  twenty-four  stanzas. 


appears  only  as  a  translator.  "  Veni  Creator  Spiritus," 
attributed  to  Gregory  the  Great  (p.  137),  he  has  done 
into  Enghsh : 


2.  Dryden 


"  Creator  Spirit,  by  Whose  aid." 


CLASSIC  ENGLISH  POETS. 


159 


Dryden,  however,  contributed  more  to  irreligion  than 
to  Christianity.  He  led  the  movement  of  the  latter  half 
of  the  seventeenth  century  against  Puritanism  and 
towards  license  and  impiety. 

His  religious  opinions,  if  he  had  any  sincere  opinions, 
may  be  gathered  from  his  controversial  allegory  called 
the  Hind  and  Panther."  The  Roman  Catholic  Church 
he  represents  as  a  Hind. 

"A  milk-white  Hind,  immortal  and  unchanged, 
Fed  on  the  lawns,  and  in  the  forest  ranged  : 
Without  unspotted,  innocent  within. 
She  feared  no  danger,  for  she  knew  no  sin." 

The  Church  of  England  appears  as  the  Panther : 

"The  Panther,  sure  the  noblest  next  the  Hind, 
And  fairest  creature  of  the  spotted  kind ; 
Oh,  could  her  inborn  stains  be  washed  away. 
She  were  too  good  to  be  a  beast  of  prey  !  " 

The  Bear  is  the  emblem  of  the  Independents,  the  Hare 
of  the  Quakers,  the  Ape  of  the  Freethinkers,  the  Wolf 
of  the  Presbyterians. 

3.  Addison. 

Joseph  Addison,  the  greatest  of  Enghsh  essayists, 
is  found  also  among  the  hymn-writers.  His  Roman 
drama  Cato  contains  one  passage  well  known,  on  the 
Immortality  of  the  Soul  : 

"  It  must  be  so  ;  Plato,  thou  reasonest  well, 
Else  whence,"  etc. 

It  was  in  the  Spectator^  made  immortal  by  his  essays, 


i6o 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  HYMNAL. 


that  his  hymns  appeared.  He  has  at  least  five,  of 
which  three  are  well  known. 

"  When  all  Thy  mercies,  O  my  God," 

originally  in  thirteen  stanzas,  in  connection  with  which 
Addison  observes  :  "  If  gratitude  is  due  from  man  to 
man,  how  much  more  from  man  to  his  Maker  ?  Any 
blessing  we  enjoy,  b}^  what  means  soever  derived,  is 
the  gift  of  Him  Who  is  the  great  Author  of  Good 
and  the  Father  of  Mercies." 

**  How  are  Thj'  servants  blest,  O  Lord  ! 
How  sure  is  their  defence  !  " 

published  in  the  Spectator  in  17 12.  This  piece  is 
described  as  the  production  of  "a  gentleman  at  the 
conclusion  of  his  travels." 

Addison  had  set  sail  from  Marseilles  on  a  foreign 
tour.  While  near  the  coast  of  Itah',  a  "  dreadful 
tempest  bore  him  high  on  the  broken  wave."  Others 
gave  up  all  hope.  The  captain,  in  despair,  was  making 
confession  of  his  sins  to  a  Capuchin  friar.  Addison 
calmed  himself  with  writing  this  hymn,  partly  descrip- 
tive, partly  devotional.    Hence  these  verses  : 

"  When  by  the  dreadful  tempest  borne 
High  on  the  broken  wave, 
They  know  Thou  art  not  slow  to  hear, 
Nor  impotent  to  save." 

Another  hymn,  included  in  those  mysterious  pieces 
which  stole  in  at  the  end  of  the  Scotch  "  Paraphrases," 
marches  with  a  splendid  tread  : 


CLASSIC  ENGLISH  POETS. 


i6i 


"  The  spacious  firmament  on  high, 
And  all  the  blue  ethereal  sky." 

It  is  based  on  Ps.  xix. 

Addison  died  at  Holland  House,  saying  to  the  Earl 
of  Warwick  :  See  in  what  peace  a  Christian  can 
die!" 

4.  Sir  Walter  Scott 

has  only  one  hymn,  its  subject  the  Pilgrimage  of  the 
Israelites  : 

"  When  Israel,  of  the  Lord  beloved, 

Out  from  the  land  of  bondage  came, 
Her  father's  God  before  her  moved, 
An  awful  Guide  in  smoke  and  flame.'" 

The  story  of  his  hfe,  its  romance,  its  heroism,  must  be 
sought  in  the  history  of  English  literature. 

5.  Henry  Kirke  White. 

After  young  Kirke  White's  death,  there  was  found 
written  on  the  back  of  one  of  his  mathematical  exercise 
papers  the  celebrated  war-song  of  the  Christians  : 

"  Much  in  sorrow,  oft  in  woe, 

Onward,  Christians,  onward  go  ! 
Fight  the  fight  though  worn  with  strife, 
Strengthened  with  the  bread  of  life." 

While  still  a  boy  in  a  humble  home  in  Nottingham, 
he  exhibited  poetical  tastes  and  gifts.  At  fifteen  he 
succeeded  in  gaining  a  silver  medal  for  a  translation 
from  Horace,  and  at  nineteen  published  his  first  volume 
of  poems. 

II 


l62 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  HYMNAL. 


His  parents  spent  themselves  in  the  endeavour  to 
foster  his  talents  and  give  him  an  education.  For  this 
purpose  his  mother  herself  opened  a  school.  Through 
the  temporary  failure  of  some  of  these  schemes  he  had 
to  work  at  a  stocking  loom.  From  that  position  he 
entered  a  law  office  in  Enfield. 

As  an  instance  of  the  universal  aptitude  of  this 
Admirable  Crichton,  we  are  told  that,  while  a  law 
student,  he  taught  himself  Chemistry,  Astronomy,  and 
Electricity,  practised  Music  and  Drawing,  and  learnt 
four  languages. 

His  companions  were  mostly  deists  and  infidels. 
One  of  them,  however,  experienced  a  saving  change, 
and  during  walks  and  talks  with  Kirke  White  was  led 
to  see  the  truth  and  beauty  of  the  Christian  life.  There- 
after he  became  anxious  to  study  for  the  ministry. 

Through  the  aid  of  the  Rev.  Charles  Simeon  and  the 
illustrious  missionary  Henry  Martyn,  Kirke  White  was 
able  in  1804  to  go  to  Cambridge. 

For  two  years  he  was  the  first  man  of  his  year. 
But,  like  so  many  of  nature's  gifted  sons,  excessive 
study  and  hardship  proved  too  much  for  his  weak 
constitution,  and  in  1806  he  died  of  consumption. 

The  author  of  this  inspiring  hymn  was  thus  only 
twenty-two  years  of  age  when  he  was  removed  to  a 
higher  ministry.  Only  ten  fines  of  the  hymn  are  from 
his  hand.  It  was  left  unfinished,  and  has  been  com- 
pleted by  Miss  Maitland.  He  was  the  writer  of  ten 
other  hymns,  and  is  best  known  as  a  poet  by  his  epic 
Christiad. 


VI. 


CLASSIC  EVENING  HYMNS. 
I.  Lyte. 

LYTE'S  birthplace  was  Kelso,  where  another  great 
hymn-writer — Dr.   Horatius  Bonar — lived  and 
wrote  and  preached  for  about  thirty  years. 

He  was  a  clergyman  of  the  Church  of  England  for 
some  years  before  he  passed  through  any  change  of 
heart.  He  was  suddenly  sent  for  to  stand  by  the 
death-bed  of  a  neighbouring  clergyman,  who  was 
aware  that  he  would  soon  be  dead,  and  knew  as  well 
that  he  was  totally  unprepared  for  the  change.  Both 
were  equally  in  the  dark,  and  together  they  turned 
to  St.  Paul's  Epistles  in  search  of  peace  and  hope. 
Together  they  found  what  they  sought.  The  one  died, 
as  his  companion  afterwards  wrote  of  him, — died  happy 
under  the  belief  that,  though  he  had  deeply  erred,  there 
was  One  Whose  death  and  sufferings  would  atone  for 
his  delinquencies,  and  be  accepted  for  all  that  he  had 
incurred." 

Lyte  confesses  :  I  was  greatly  affected  by  the  whole 
matter,  and  brought  to  look  at  life  and  its  issue  with 
a  different  eye  than  before  ;  and  I  began  to  study  my 


164 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  HYMNAL. 


Bible  and  preach  in  another  manner  than  I  had 
previously  done." 

So  deeply  touched  was  he  by  this  loss,  that  he  took 
charge  of  the  children  left  by  his  departed  friend  ;  and 
thus  took  heav}'-  burdens  and  responsibilities  on  a 
frame  already  too  weak. 

He  says  himself  that  he  *^  was  jostled  from  one 
curacy  to  another."  It  was  on  the  south  coast,  at 
Lower  Brixham  in  Devonshire,  that  his  hymns  were 
written.  He  ^'made  hymns  for  his  httle  ones,  and 
hymns  for  his  hardy  fishermen,  and  hymns  for 
sufferers  like  himself." 

His  people  were  a  hardy  but  rough  sea-faring  folk, 
and  not  able  to  appreciate  his  tender  yet  lofty  spirit. 
But  in  this  he  took  up  his  cross  bravely,  and  he  was 
but  expressing  his  own  practice  when  he  sang  in  one 
of  his  hymns : 

"  Jesus,  I  my  cross  have  taken." 

.1. 

That  prayerful,  restful  hymn, 

"Abide  with  me !  fast  falls  the  eventide," 

was  written  under  the  following  circumstances. 

His  health  had  been  steadily  declining,  and  the 
climate  of  his  parish  was  declared  to  be  injurious. 
When  this  was  announced  to  him,  he  wrote :  "I  hope 
not,  for  I  know  no  divorce  I  should  more  deprecate 
than  from  the  ocean.  From  childhood  it  has  been 
my  friend  and  playmate,  and  I  have  never  been  weary 
of  gazing  on  its  glorious  face." 

He  was  compelled  to  prepare  for  a  sojourn  in  a 


CLASSIC  EVENING  HYMNS. 


165 


southern  and  warmer  climate.  ''The  swallows/'  he 
says,  "are  preparing  for  flight,  and  inviting  me  to 
accompany  them  ;  and  yet,  alas  !  while  I  talk  of  flying, 
I  am  just  able  to  crawl,  and  ask  myself  whether  I  shall 
be  able  to  leave  England  at  all." 

Although  so  feeble,  he  sought  to  meet  his  people 
once  more,  and  celebrate  the  Lord's  Supper  and  leave 
some  parting  words.  "  I  stand  before  you  seasonably 
to-day,  as  alive  from  the  dead,  if  I  may  hope  to  impress  it 
upon  you,  and  induce  you  to  prepare  for  that  solemn  hour 
which  must  come  to  all,  by  a  timely  acquaintance  with, 
appreciation  of,  and  dependence  on,  the  death  of  Christ." 

After  the  Sacrament,  Lyte  dragged  his  weary  frame 
to  his  room,  and  he  remained  there  for  a  long  time. 
The  same  evening  he  handed  to  a  relative  this  hymn  in 
its  original  eight  stanzas.  No  doubt  he  had  been  at 
work  that  afternoon  soothing  his  own  mind  into  peace 
by  writing  this  hymn.  He  was  thinking,  not  of  the 
evening  hours  of  the  day,  so  much  as  of  the  eventide 
of  life,  when  he  wrote  "  Fast  falls  the  eventide,"  etc., 
"  Hold  Thou  Thy  cross,"  etc. 

He  went  to  Nice,  and  died  there,  pointing  upward 
and  whispering,  "  Peace  !  joy  ! "  His  was  a  calm  and 
beautiful  eventide. 

A  certain  Dr.  Baker,  when  at  Nice,  went  to  see  Lyte's 
grave,  and  found  a  young  man  standing  by  the  spot, 
under  deep  emotion,  tears  of  gratitude  falling.  To 
Lyte  he  owed  his  hope  in  God,  his  salvation — emblem 
of  many  thousands  who  have  been  soothed  and  calmed 
even  in  sorrow  as  they  sang  this  hymn. 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  HYMNAL. 


He  says,  in  a  little  poem  called  Declining  Days  : 

"  Might  verse  of  mine  inspire 
One  virtuous  aim,  one  high  resolve  impart — 
Light  in  one  drooping  soul  a  hallowed  fire, 
Or  bind  one  broken  heart, 

"  Death  would  be  sweeter  then, 

More  calm  my  slumber  'neath  the  silent  sod  ; 

Might  I  thus  live  to  bless  my  fellow-men 

Or  glorify  my  God/' 
«*#*** 

"  O  Thou  !  Whose  touch  can  lend 
Life  to  the  dead,  Thy  quickening  grace  supply ; 
And  grant  me,  swan-like,  my  last  breath  to  spend 
In  song  that  may  not  die," 

He  has  had  his  wish  in  the  immortality  of  "  Abide 
with  Me." 


2.  Ken. 

Bishop  Ken  is  the  author  of  the  Protestant  ''Te 
Deum,"  distinguished  as  "The  Doxology," 

"  Praise  God  from  Whom  all  blessings  flow." 

These  lines  are  sung  more  frequently  and  more  widely 
than  any  other  sacred  stanza.  They  formed  the  close 
of  both  of  his  great  hymns ;  namely,  for  the  morning — 

"  Awake,  my  soul,  and  with  the  sun 
Thy  daily  stage  of  duty  run  ;  " 

and  for  the  evening — 

All  praise  to  Thee,  my  God,  this  night, 
For  all  the  blessings  of  the  hght.' 


CLASSIC  EVENING  HYMNS. 


67 


These  hymns  have  an  interesting  history.  Ken,  who 
had  been  a  scholar  at  Winchester  College,  after  gra- 
duating at  Oxford  became  a  Fellow  of  Winchester,  and 
wrote  a  Manual  of  Prayers  for  the  use  of  its  scholars. 
These  hymns,  along  with  another — for  "midnight" — 
were  appended  to  a  later  edition  of  the  Manual.  But 
even  prior  to  publication,  they  were,  it  is  believed, 
hung  as  broadsheets  on  the  walls  of  the  bedrooms  of 
the  Winchester  boys. 

All  three — morning,  evening,  and  midnight — can  be 
traced  to  Latin  sources.  They  are  not  translations,  but 
probably  are  the  fruit  of  influences  received  by  their 
author  at  Winchester,  where  the  college  exercises  in- 
cluded the  singing  of  the  ^^Jam  lucis  orto  sidereT 
"  Awake,  my  soul "  would  thus  be  suggested  by  "  A 
solus  ortus  cardine All  praise  to  Thee"  by  "  Te lucis 
ante  ierminumr 

They  are  associated  with  the  famous  Thumb  Bihle^ 
— an  abstract  of  the  Bible  prepared  by  Jeremy  Taylor 
for  one  of  the  royal  children.  In  this  miniature  Bible, 
Ken's  hymns  are  printed,  with  the  Hnes,  however, 
extended  to  ten  syllables.  The  process  weakened  the 
hymns ;  e.g.  : 

'*  Forgive  me,  dearest  Lord,  for  Thy  dear  Son, 
The  many  ills  that  I  this  day  have  done, 
That  with  the  world,  myself,  and  then  with  Thee, 
I,  ere  I  sleep,  at  perfect  peace  may  be." 

Both  of  his  hymns  were  written  to  be  sung  to  Tallis's 
Canon.  He  had  musical  skill,  played  on  the  organ, 
having  one  in  his  room  at  Winchester ;  every  morning 


1 68  ROMANCE  OF  THE  HYMNAL. 


sang  his  Morning  Hymn,  accompanying  himself  on 
the  lute. 

Ken's  Ufe  was  an  eventful  one.  Early  left  an  orphan, 
his  education  was  directed  by  his  sister,  afterwards  the 
wife  of  Izaak  Walton,  author  of  the  Compleat  Angler. 
After  passing  through  Winchester  and  Oxford,  and 
enjoying  various  benefices,  he  was  made  chaplain  to 
Charles  II.  Ken  was  faithful  in  his  dealings  with  the 
king,  strove  to  awaken  his  conscience,  and  attended  him 
on  his  death-bed,  urging  him  to  receive  the  Sacrament. 

In  1684  he  was  raised  to  the  Episcopal  Bench  as 
Bishop  of  Bath  and  Wells.  Seven  years  later  he  was 
removed  from  his  See,  and  sent  to  the  Tower  for  refusing 
to  read  the  Declaration  of  Indulgence."  Queen  Anne, 
however,  relieved  his  later  life  by  giving  him  £200  a 
year  as  a  pension.  Buried  at  his  own  request  under 
the  east  window  of  the  chancel  just  at  sun-rising," 
his  friends  appropriately  sang  his  own  favourite  lines  : 
^'  Awake,  my  soul." 

Lord  Houghton  (Monckton  Milnes),  touched  by 
the  incident,  has  written  lines  upon  his  tomb  from 
which  the  following  is  an  extract : 

"These  signs  of  him  that  slumbers  there 
The  dignity  betoken ; 
These  iron  bars  a  heart  declare 
Hard  bent,  but  never  broken  ; 
This  form  portrays  how  souls  like  his, 

Their  pride  and  passion  quelling, 
Preferred  to  earth's  high  palaces 
This  calm  and  narrow  dwelling." 

To  reheve  his  weariness,  the  exiled  bishop  wrote 


CLASSIC  EVENING  HYMNS. 


169 


verses  which  he  called  Anodynes.  They  were  com- 
posed during  the  sleepless  hours  of  night,  when  pain 
tortured  him  : 

"  Pain  keeps  me  waking  in  the  night ; 
I  longing  lie  for  morning  light  : 
Methinks  the  sluggish  sun 
Forgets  he  this  day's  course  must  run. 

0  heavenly  torch  !  why  this  delay 
In  giving  us  our  wonted  day  ? 

1  feel  my  watch,  I  tell  my  clock, 

I  hear  each  crowing  of  the  cock." 

He  had  his  watch  so  constructed  that  by  his  finger  he 
could    discern  the  time  to  half  a  quarter  of  an  hour." 
Dryden  made  him  his  model  of  his  "good  parson  "  : 

"  Letting  down  the  golden  chain  from  high, 
He  drew  his  audience  upwards  to  the  sky  : 
And  oft  with  holy  hymns  he  charmed  their  ears  ; 
(A  music  more  melodious  than  the  spheres :) 
For  David  left  him,  when  he  went  to  rest, 
His  lyre  :  and  after  him  he  sung  the  best." 


VII. 


PURITAN  HYMNS. 
I.  Watts. 

ISAAC  WATTS  was  born  at  Southampton  in  1674, 
where  his  father  was  a  deacon  in  an  Inde- 
pendent Church,  and  conducted  a  successful  boarding 
school.  It  was  the  age  when  Dissenters  paid  heavy 
penalties  for  their  nonconformity.  Both  the  deacon 
and  his  pastor  were  locked  up  in  prison,  and  the 
deacon's  wife,  with  the  infant  Isaac  in  her  arms,  used 
to  come  on  sunny  days,  and  sit  on  a  stone  near  the 
cell  where  her  husband  was  confined,  to  cheer  him  by 
singing  to  him  through  the  bars. 

But,  though  his  father  was  imprisoned  more  than 
once,  young  Watts'  education  was  not  neglected.  At 
four,  he  was  learning  Latin.  His  mother  used  to 
employ  the  pupils  after  school  hours  in  writing  verse. 
The  reward  offered  was  a  little  copper  medal.  Master 
Isaac,  then  eight,  won  a  prize  by  this  rather  saucy 
couplet : 

"  I  write  not  for  a  farthing,  but  to  try 
How  I  your  farthing  writers  can  outvie. 


PURITAN  HYMNS. 


171 


Thus  early  his  mind  was  poetical ;  he  "  lisped  in 
numbers."  > 

At  fifteen  he  passed  through  the  great  change,  the 
heart  change.  So  intensel.3^  had  he  studied,  and  so 
promising  was  his  scholarship,  that  at  sixteen  a  friend 
offered  to  give  him  a  university  education  if  he  would 
renounce  Dissent.  The  offer  was  rejected,  and  he 
studied  for  the  Congregational  ministry. 

At  this  time  some  congregations  had  no  sacred  song 
in  their  services.  The  Southampton  congregation, 
however,  sang  praise ;  but  the  jaw-breaking  lines  of 
Sternhold  and  Hopkins,  or  the  jolting  measures  of 
Nahum  Tate,  did  not  please  one  young  worshipper 
there,  the  future  poet.  When  he  complained  on  the 
subject  one  morning,  he  received  the  retort  from  one 
of  the  deacons,  ^'Give  us  something  better,  young 
man."  He  accepted  the  challenge  ;  and  forthwith  he 
produced  a  hymn  which  was  sung,  line  by  line  being 
read,  by  the  congregation.    It  was  the  hymn: 

"  Behold  the  glories  of  the  Lamb 
Amidst  His  Father's  throne 
Prepare  new  honours  for  His  name, 
And  songs  before  unknown." 

The  compilers  of  the  Scottish  Paraphrases,  in  1745, 
combined  this  hymn  with  another  that  came  later  from 
Watts'  pen : 

"  Come,  let  us  join  our  cheerful  songs 
With  angels  round  the  throne," 

This  combination  was  amended  and  improved  by 


172 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  HYMNAL. 


another  hand  (Rev.  W.  Cameron,  of  Kirknewton),  and 
in  this  shape  formed  the  sixty-fifth  Paraphrase  : 
"  Come,  let  us  join  our  cheerful  songs," 

and 

"  Hark  how  the  adoring  host  above." 

Strange  to  say,  this  innovation  was  cordially  re- 
ceived by  the  congregation,  and  young  Watts  was 
urged  to  write  other  hymns.  For  two  years  a  new 
one  was  sung  each  Sunday  in  that  church.  He  was 
thus,  as  the  poet  Montgomery  has  called  him,  ''the 
inventor  of  hymns  in  our  language."  There  had  been 
occasional  and  solitary  sacred  pieces  before  him  of 
intrinsic  value,  but  "  he  struck  the  Meribah-rock  of 
melody  and  the  waters  continued  to  gush  forth." 

His  verses  were  published  in  several  volumes  in 
successive  years,  and  won  immense  popularity. 

In  the  second  collection — called  Hymns  and  Spiritual 
Songs — were  many  of  his  best;  while  in  the  third — 
entitled  The  Psalms  of  David  imitated  in  the  Language 
oj  the  New  Testament — amongst  others  was  the  famous 
version  of  the  Hundredth  Psalm.    It  began  : 

"  Sing  to  the  Lord  with  joyful  voice, 
Let  every  land  His  name  adore ; 
The  British  Isles  shall  send  the  noise 
Across  the  ocean  to  the  shore." 

John  Wesley  left  out  this  verse,  and  altered  the 
first  lines  of  the  next  verse,  which  ran  : 

"  Nations  aitend  before  His  throne 
With  solemn  fear  vvith  sacred  joy^ 


PURITAN  HYMNS. 


73 


into 

"  Before  Jehovah's  awful  throne,"  etc., 

an  alteration  and  improvement  adopted  in  most 
Hymnals. 

When  Commodore  Perry  anchored  the  American 
fleet  off  Japan,  and  demanded  the  opening  of  the  ports 
to  commerce,  Divine  Service  was  held  on  the  flag- 
ship, and  the  chaplain,  within  sight  of  thousands  upon 
the  shore,  gave  out  this  hymn  to  be  sung.  The 
marine  band  struck  up  the  notes  of  Old  Hundredth^ 
and  the  natives  of  that  empire,  where  Christian 
civilization  was  so  soon  to  win  such  conquests, 
beheld  and  heard  the  worship  of  One  Who  was  yet 
to  be  King  of  all  nations.  - 

The  mechanical  execution  of  many  of  his  hymns 
is  very  imperfect ;  some  of  the  rhymes  are  excru- 
ciating. The  sentiment,  too,  is  at  times  ascetic, 
monastic,  as  when  he  writes : 

"  Lord,  what  a  wretched  land  is  this," 

— a  libel  on  nature,  art,  and  human  love,  and  life's 
delights.  But  the  Church  had  not  in  his  time  rid 
itself  of  this  monkish  estimate  of  this  world. 

Watts  had  been,  before  entering  on  his  ministry 
in  Mark  Lane,  tutor  to  the  children  of  a  certain  knight 
at  Newington.  It  was  thus  that  he  got  his  knowledge 
of  children — for  he  died  a  bachelor — and  thus  in  later 
life  he  wrote  those  hymns  which  as  children  we  used 
to  sing.  True,  we  think  we  have  something  better 
for  our  children  than— 


174 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  HYMNAL. 


"  How  doth  the  Httle  busy  bee 
Improve  each  shining  hour," 

or 

"  Let  dogs  delight  to  bark  and  bite 
For  God  has  made  them  so,"  etc. 

But  they  served  their  day  and  deserve  honour 
accordingly. 

MilHons  of  copies  of  his  Divine  Songs  for  Children 
were  circulated  ;  they  became  the  favourites  in  school 
and  nursery  ;  v^^ere  for  many  years  the  only  book  of 
praise  used  in  Scottish  Sunday  Schools,  being  even 
printed  on  the  fly-leaves  of  the  Catechism. 

It  is  said  that — 

"  There  is  a  land  of  pure  delight, 

Where  saints  immortal  reign,"  etc., 

was  written  when  the  author  was  twenty-one  or 
twenty-two  years  old ;  that  it  was  suggested  by  the 
view  across  the  Southampton  Water — the  "  narrow 
sea "  with  its  swelling  flood,"  beyond  which  lie  the 
"  sweet  fields  "  and     living  green  "  of  New  Forest. 

He  has  not  given  us  hymns  so  dear  to  the  heart 
as  Toplady's  Rock  of  Ages,"  or  Wesley's  Jesus, 
lover  of  my  soul ; "  but  he  has  soared  to  the  highest 
regions  of  spiritual  devotion  in  such  hymns  as  : 

"  When  I  survey  the  wondrous  cross." 

Mrs.  Evans — the  ''Dinah  Morris"  oi  Adam  Bedc, 
whose  prayer  on  the  village  green  we  all  remember  in 
George  Eliot's  story — was  a  female  preacher  at  a  place 
near  Matlock.    We  are  told  that  she  lived  to  a  great 


PURITAN  HYMNS. 


175 


age,  and  in  her  last  illness — in  great  pain,  but  in  great 
peace  and  happiness — she  soothed  herself  by  singing  : 

"  See,  from  His  head,  His  hands.  His  feet, 
Sorrow  and  love  flow  mingled  down  ; 
Did  e'er  such  love  and  sorrow  meet. 
Or  thorns  compose  so  rich  a  crown  ?  " 

Father  Ignatius,  preaching  in  a  church  in  Lombard 
Street,  gave  out  this  hymn  :  and  when  it  was  ended, 
he  slowly  repeated  the  line  : 

"  Demands  my  soul,  my  life,  my  all," 

and  proceeded:  ''Well!  I  am  surprised  to  hear  yon 
sing  that.  Did  you  know  that  altogether  you  only  put 
fifteen  shilHngs  into  the  collection  this  morning  ? " 

"  Jesus  shall  reign  where'er  the  sun  " 

was  sung  on  the  occasion  on  which  King  George  the 
Sable  gave  a  new  Constitution  to  his  people,  exchanging 
a  heathen  for  a  Christian  form  of  government.  Under 
the  spreading  branches  of  the  banyan  trees  sat  some 
five  thousand  natives  from  Tonga,  Fiji,  and  Samoa, 
on  Whit  Sunday,  1862,  assembled  for  Divine  worship. 
Foremost  sat  King  George.  Around  him  were  ranged 
old  chiefs  and  warriors,  who  had  shared  with  him  the 
dangers  and  fortunes  of  many  a  battle.  Old  and  young 
rejoiced  together  in  the  joys  of  that  day.  It  would  be 
impossible  to  describe  the  deep  feeling  manifested 
when  the  solemn  service  began  by  the  audience 
singing  : 

"  Jesus  shall  reign  where'er  the  sun." 


176 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  HYMNAL. 


In  the  Sunday  at  Home  plebiscite,  Watts  had  a  larger 
number — five — in  the  favourite  hundred  than  had  any 
other  author.  The  Paraphrases  contain  twenty-two  of 
his  hymns. 

Dr.  Watts  went  to  spend  a  week  at  Sir  Thomas 
Abney's  at  Stoke  Newington,  but,  instead  of  a  week,  he 
stayed  under  this  kind  and  hospitable  roof  for  thirty- 
five  years.  His  body  rests  in  Abney  Park ;  and  his 
tomb  bears  the  simple,  truthful  eulogy : 

"  Isaac  Watts,  the  Father  of  the  Enghsh  Hymn.' 

2.  Doddridge. 

Philip  Doddridge  was  a  descendant  of  a  Bohemian 
refugee  who  had  found  shelter  in  England  from  perse- 
cution at  Prague.  He  was  born  in  London  nearly  two 
centuries  ago  (1702).  His  biographer  says,  that  at  his 
birth  he  was  thrown  aside  as  dead ; "  but  kind  and 
pious  parents  sheltered  and  nourished  his  feeble  child- 
hood.   At  thirteen  he  was  left  an  orphan. 

Hearing  of  his  wish  to  enter  the  ministry,  the 
Duchess  of  Bedford  offered  to  educate  him  at  her  own 
cost,  and  find  him  a  living  in  the  Church  of  England. 
Like  young  Isaac  Watts  in  a  similar  position,  he 
declined  the  offer,  being  by  conviction  as  well  as 
upbringing  a  Dissenter. 

Most  of  his  ministerial  Hfe  was  spent  at  Northampton, 
where  he  was  also  the  Principal  of  a  Theological  Col- 
lege. The  fame  of  his  lectures  drew  students  from  all 
quarters  and  from  other  countries  ;  and  the  University 
of  Aberdeen  conferred  the  degree  of  D.D.  upon  him. 


PURITAN  HYMNS, 


77 


He  is  known  to-day  both  as  an  author  and  as  a  hymn- 
writer. 

As  an  author,  his  most  famous  work  is  his  Rise  and 
Progress  of  Religion  in  the  Soul.  It  held  an  honoured 
place  on  the  shelves  of  our  fathers,  and  we  may  re- 
member seeing  it  in  our  early  days  side  by  side  with 
Boston's  Fourfold  State,  A  century  ago  it  was  one  of 
the  most  popular  volumes  among  earnest  people. 

Wilberforce  read  it,  and  became  a  new  man  in 
Christ,  afterwards  writing  his  Practical  View  of  Chris- 
tianity. Wilberforce's  book  found  its  way  into  the 
manse  at  Kilmany  in  Scotland,  into  the  hands  of 
a  minister  who  was  preaching,  not  the  Gospel,  but 
morality.  God  used  it  to  open  the  eyes  and  change 
the  heart  of  that  preacher,  by  name  Thomas  Chalmers 
— afterwards,  as  Dr.  Chalmers,  to  be  one  of  the 
most  mighty  influences  in  the  religious  Kfe  of  his 
land. 

This  is  the  true  Apostolic  Succession,  the  mantle  of 
truth  and  influence  passing  down  from  one  heart  to 
another. 

He  is  best  known  to  us,  however,  as  a  writer  ot 
hymns. 

They  appear  to  have  been  first  circulated  in  MS.,  and 
not  printed  till  1755-     It  was  probably  through  the 
circulation  of  some  of  his  hymns  in  MS.  that  they 
were  embodied  in  the  Paraphrases^  which  were  firs 
printed  in  1745. 

His  family  crest  bore  the  motto  "  Dum  vivimus 
vivamus  " — ^'  While  we  live,  let  us  live  " — and  upon  it 

12 


178 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  HYMNAL. 


he  wrote  lines  which  Samuel  Johnson  called  the  best 
epigram  in  the  English  language  :  "  - 

"  '  Live  while  you  live,'  the  Epicure  will  sa}^, 
'  And  take  the  pleasure  of  the  passing  day ; ' 
'  Live  while  you  live,'  the  sacred  Preacher  cries, 
'  And  give  to  God  each  moment  as  it  flies.' 
Lord,  in  my  views,  let  both  united  be ; 
1  live  in  pleasure  when  I  live  to  Thee." 

Travelling  to  preach  the  funeral  sermons  of  Dr. 
Samuel  Clarke,  he  caught  the  cold  that  induced  his 
death.  He  was  too  poor  to  go  abroad  at  his  own 
expense.  A  Church  of  England  clergyman  proposed 
that  a  subscription  should  be  raised.  The  Countess 
of  Huntingdon,  ever  his  friend,  contributed  £iOO.  He 
sought  a  warmer  climate,  reached  Lisbon,  but  had  been 
there  only  a  fortnight  when,  in  175 1,  he  died. 

He  WTote  three  hundred  and  seventy-four  hymns. 
In  his  Works  they  are  classified  in  the  order  of  the 
books  of  the  Bible,  according  to  the  text  which  supplied 
the  theme. 

One  of  his  hymns,  not  in  general  use, 

"  Awake,  my  soul,  to  meet  the  day," 
he  repeated  to  himself  ever}^  morning  as  he  rose.  At 
five  o'clock  he  prepared  to  leave  his  bed,  repeating  five 
stanzas  before  doing  so ;  at  the  sixth  he  rose  and 
dressed  ! 

That  h3^mn  is  no  longer  in  use.  Advocating  early 
rising,  it  is  not  likely  to  be  widely  popular  in  these 
days ! 

His  hymns  are  good,  sound,  pious  songs  of  praise. 


PURITAN  HYMNS. 


179 


But  he  made  no  claim  to  be  a  poet.  They  are  without 
genius,  and  are  of  unequal  merit ;  rising  in  some  verses 
to  the  heights  of  devotion,  sinking  in  others  to  prosaic 
statements.  In  his  case,  the  menders  of  hymns  have 
improved  upon  the  original. 
In  the  hymn — 


Doddridge  says  that  the  idea  in  the  fourth  verse- 
"  He  comes  the  prisoners  to  release "' — 

was  borrowed  from  Pope's  lines  on  the  Messiah  : 

"  Hear  Him,  ye  deaf;  and,  all  ye  blind,  behold: 
He  from  thick  films  shall  purge  the  visual  ray, 
And  on  the  sightless  eyeball  pour  the  day." 


is,  in  some  of  the  Church  of  England  Hymnals,  used 
for  Confirmations.  We  are  told  that,  at  the  request  of 
the  Queen  and  Prince  Albert,  it  was  sung  at  the  con- 
firmation of  one  of  the  royal  children.  A  newspaper 
correspondent,  in  reporting  the  circumstance,  stated 
that  the  hymn. 


was  composed  for  the  occasion  by  Tennyson,  the  Poet 
Laureate  !  and  added  that,  if  he  could  write  nothing 
better  than  this,  it  was  time  to  consider  whether  he 
should  continue  to  receive  national  pay. 


Hark  the  glad  sound  !  the  Saviour  comes,"' 


"  O  happy  day  that  fixed  my  choice  ! 


*'  O  happy  day  that  fixed  my  choice  ! " 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  HYMNAL. 


O  God  of  Bethel,  by  Whose  hand 
Thy  people  still  are  fed/' 

was  written  to  be  sung  after  a  sermon  which  Doddridge 
preached  on  "  Jacob's  Vow."  It  is  found  in  an  altered 
form  in  Logan's  Poems,  and  is  also  among  the  Scotch 
Paraphrases.    As  written,  it  ran  : 

"  O  God  of  Bethel,  by  Whose  hand 
Thine  Israel  still  is  fed." 

This  hymn  is  associated  with  David  Livingstone. 
He  had  learnt  it  among  the  Paraphrases,  and  it  re- 
mained fixed  in  his  memory.  It  became  his  favourite 
piece  in  his  wanderings  in  Africa,  and  it  was  sung 
when  he  was  buried,  in  April  1874,  in  Westminster 
Abbey. 


VIII. 


METHODIST  REVIVAL  HYMNS. 

I.  TOPLADY. 

UGUSTUS  M.  TOPLADY,  a  native  of  Surrey, 


was,  like  C.  Wesley,  educated  at  Westminster 
School.  At  the  age  of  sixteen  he  had  gone  to  Ireland 
to  aid  his  widowed  mother  in  claiming  an  estate. 
He  strolled  into  a  barn  at  Codymain,  where  a  layman 
was  preaching  a  homely  sermon  from  the  text,  ''Ye 
who  sometime  were  afar  off  are  made  nigh  by  the 
blood  of  Christ." 

It  was  a  red-letter  day  in  his  soul's  history.  Of 
this  occasion  he  wrote  afterwards  :  "  Strange  that  I, 
who  had  so  long  sat  under  the  means  of  grace  in 
England,  should  be  brought  near  to  God  in  an  obscure 
part  of  Ireland,  amidst  a  handful  of  God's  people, 
met  together  in  a  barn,  and  under  the  ministry  of 
one  who  could  hardly  spell  his  name." 

No  small  encouragement  to  humble  workers  !  A 
hymn  that  has  been  an  inexpressible  blessing  to 
mankind  can  be  traced  back  to  a  poor,  stumbling, 
illiterate  speaker  in  a  barn  in  a  remote  Irish  hamlet. 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  HYMNAL. 


Toplady  entered  Trinity  College,  Dublin,  and 
during  his  undergraduate  career  seems  to  have  written 
numerous  small  pieces  of  verse,  which  he  published. 
Only  one  or  two  of  the  hundred  and  five  are  remem- 
bered to-day. 

At  his  Ordination,  in  subscribing  to  the  Articles^ 
Homilies,  and  Liturgy,  he  wrote  his  signature  five 
times,  to  show  his  hearty  acceptance  of  them. 

It  was  in  Devonshire,  as  Vicar  of  Broad  Hembury, 
that  he  spent  most  of  his  ministerial  life,  "passing 
rich  on  eighty  pounds  a  year." 

But  he  was  delicate  and  sickly.  His  mind  was  too 
active  for  his  body  ;  the  engine  too  powerful  for  the 
ship.  Unable  for  duty,  he  removed  to  London,  became 
associated  with  the  Countess  of  Huntingdon  as  minister 
of  Leicester  Fields,  and  drew  such  multitudes,  that  not 
a  fourth  part  of  the  people  could  be  accommodated 
in  the  chapel.  At  times  no  fewer  than  thirteen 
hundred  horses  used  by  the  worshippers  were  turned 
into  adjoining  fields. 

But  consumption  soon  laid  him  low  again.  During 
his  illness  he  wrote  and  sent  to  Lady  Huntingdon  the 
piece — not  a  hymn,  but  a  sacred  poem — entitled 
The  Dying  Believer  to  his  Soul  "  : — 

Deathless  principle,  arise  : 
Soar,  thou  native  of  the  skies." 

When  near  his  end,  he  was  told  that  his  heart  was 
beating  weaker  and  weaker.    He  replied  with  a  smile : 
Why,  that  is  a  good  sign  that  my  death  is  fast 


METHODIST  REVIVAL  HYMNS. 


183 


approaching;  and,  blessed  be  God,  I  can  add  that 
my  heart  beats  every  day  stronger  and  stronger  for 
Glory." 

*^It  will  not  be  long  before  God  takes  me,  for  no 
mortal  can  live,"  said  he,  bursting  into  tears,  after 
the  glories  which  God  has  manifested  to  my  soul." 

He  was  only  thirty-eight  when  he  died,  just  about 
a  hundred  years  ago. 

His  hymns  appeared  first  in  the  Gospel  Magazine^ 
a  magazine  which  espoused  the  cause  of  Calvinism. 
For  a  time  he  was  its  editor.  It  was  here  that  the 
hymn 

"Your  harps,  ye  trembling  saints, 
Down  from  the  willows  take," 

appeared  under  the  heading  Weak  Believers  en- 
couragedy    Also  one  entitled     Happiness  found:''' 

"  Object  of  my  first  desire." 

The  first  verse  of  the  hymn,  as  Toplady  wrote  it,  is 
never  used  in  hymn  books.    It  ran  thus  : — 

Happiness,  thou  lovely  name, 
Where  thy  seat,  oh  !  tell  me  where  ? 
Learning,  pleasure,  wealth,  and  fame, 
All  cry  out,  '  It  is  not  here,'  "  etc. 

A  bitter  controversy  had  arisen  between  Toplady 
the  stern  Calvinist  and  Wesley  the  Arminian.  They 
flung  angry,  almost  slanderous  epithets  at  each  other. 
Toplady  was  specially  indignant  at  the  doctrine  of 
perfection  supposed  to  be  held  by  Wesley. 


1 84  ROMANCE  OF  THE  HYMNAL. 

Curious  that  the  most  precious  hymn  ever  written 
should  bear  a  reference  to  this  controversy,  namely, 

"  Rock  of  Ages," 

which  appeared  under  the  title,  A  Living  or  Dying 
Prayer  for  the  Holiest  Believer  in  the  World." 

This  was  a  sly  hint  that  even  the  "holiest  believer" 
— perfectionist  or  not — could  and  must  be  able  to 
use  the  language  of  this  hymn ;  no  one  too  holy 
to  employ  it. 

It  is  a  curious  bit  of  irony,  and  a  strange  com- 
mentary on  that  angry  controversy,  that  this  hymn 
is  to  be  found  in  every  Wesleyan  hymn  book  to-day ; 
and  its  authorship  was  even  attributed  to  Charles 
Wesley — and  this  by  an  eminent  Wesleyan,  Richard 
Watson  ! 

When  Calvinists  and  Arminians  come  to  pray  or 
write  hymns  of  devotion,  it  is  impossible  to  tell 
which  is  Calvinist  and  which  Arminian. 

"  Rock  of  Ages  "  might  quite  well  have  been  written 
by  C.  Wesley,  and  "  Jesus,  Lover  of  my  soul "  by 
Toplady.  Will  not  the  voices  of  all  Christians  of 
all  names  blend  just  thus  above  in  the  grand  chorus 
sung  to  the  Lamb  that  was  slain  ? 
"  The  editors  of  the  Sunday  at  Home  issued  to  their 
readers  an  invitation  in  their  January  number,  1887, 
to  send  lists  of  the  hundred  best  hymns.  In  the 
May  number  the  result  was  tabulated.  Between 
three  thousand  four  hundred  and  three  thousand 
five    hundred   lists    were   received,   and      Rock  of 


METHODIST  REVIVAL  HYMNS. 


185 


Ages "  topped  the  poll  with  three  thousand  two 
hundred  and  fifteen  votes.  The  second  in  favour 
was  "Abide  with  me;"  the  third,  "Jesus,  Lover 
of  my  soul ; "  the  fourth,  "  Just  as  I  am,"  etc. ;  the 
fifth,  "  How  sweet  the  name  of  Jesus  sounds ; "  the 
sixth,    My  God,  my  Father,  while  I  stray." 

We  are  not  surprised  that  "  Rock  of  Ages"  should 
be  the  best-loved  hymn  in  the  language.  It  is  not 
by  any  means  the  most  perfect  in  poetical  form ; 
but  it  directs  the  heart  at  its  most  critical  and 
most  anxious  hour,  its  most  momentous  experience. 
It  certainly  confuses  metaphors,  the  pierced  side " 
changing  to  "  the  riven  rock,"  which  is  at  once  a 
"hiding-place"  and  a  ^*  cleansing  fountain."  But  few 
notice  or  care  to  remember  these  peccadilloes,  for 
we  love  the  hymn  too  dearly  to  pick  tiny  holes  in 
its  phraseology. 

In  Mr.  Gladstone's  Latin  translation  there  is  no 
phrase  corresponding  to  "  Rock  of  Ages,"  no  corre- 
sponding metaphor  : 

"Jesus  pro  me  perforatus 
Condar  intra  tuum  latus.'' 

In  the  best  and  most  recent  Hymnals  the  hymn  is 
given  much  as  it  was  written :  "  riven "  is  retained 
(not  "wounded"  substituted);  ''Foul"  (not  "vile") 
"  I  to  the  fountain  fly ; "  "  When  I  soar  through 
tracts  unknown  "  (not  ''  to  worlds  unknown  ").  The 
only  alteration  retained  is  in  the  hne,  ''  When  my 
eyelids    close    in    death,"    which     originally  read. 


i86 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  HYMNAL. 


"When  my  eyestrmgs  break  in  death/' — referring  to 
an  old  idea  that  the  eyestrings  snapped  when  a 
person  died.  But  there  is  reason  for  believing  that 
the  alteration  was  accepted  by  the  author. 

Curious  that  this  hymn  is  the  only  one  of  Top- 
lady's  that  appears  among  the  favourite  hundred  voted 
by  the  readers  of  the  Sunday  at  Home  (May  1887), 
or  is  widely  known  and  loved.  He  has  had  one 
hour  of  lofty  illumination ;  but  only  one  :  one  hymn, 
and  that  the  best  of  all  in  the  language ! 

One  is  pleased  to  remember  that  the  respected 
Prince  Consort,  when  on  his  deathbed,  turned  to 
this  hymn,  repeating  it  constantly.  "  For,"  said  he, 
if  in  this  hour  I  had  only  my  worldly  honours  and 
dignities  to  depend  upon,  I  should  be  poor  indeed." 

Dr.  Pomeroy  tells  that  a  few  years  ago,  when  in 
an  Arminian  Church  at  Constantinople,  he  observed 
many  weeping  as  they  sang,  and  found  on  inquiry 
that  they  were  singing  a  translation  of  this  hymn. 
It  has  been  translated  into  many  languages  and 
dialects  ;  lately  into  the  language  spoken  round  Lake 
Nyassa,  by  Dr.  Laws,  of  the  Livingstonia  Mission. 

2.  Wesley. 

f  Charles  Wesley  was  born  into  a  family  or  suc- 
cession of  hymn-writers.  His  father,  the  Rector  of 
Epworth,  was  the  author  of  various  hymns.  One 
of  these,  written  on  a  piece  of  music,  was  rescued 
from  the  fire  which  destroyed  the  parsonage.  The 
infant  Charles   was  saved    from    the  flames  at  the 


METHODIST  REVIVAL  HYMNS. 


same  time.  He  was  born  into  an  atmosphere  of 
poetry  and  music. 

He  had  a  narrow  escape — what  his  more  famous 
brother  called  a  fair  escape " — from  being  a  man 
of  wealth  and  rank.  A  rich  namesake,  a  landed 
proprietor  in  Ireland  who  was  without  an  heir,  offered 
to  adopt  him.  Although  only  a  schoolboy  at  West- 
minster, young  Wesley  had  a  life-plan,  and  declined 
the  proposal.  A  cousin  was  adopted  in  his  stead, 
Richard  Colley  Wesley,  whose  son  became  an  earl 
and  the  father  of  the  Duke  of  Wellington,  who 
changed  Wesley  into  the  older  form  of  Wellesley. 

Curious  to  think  of  the  influence  which  young 
Charles  Wesley's  refusal  of  the  heirship  had  upon 
the  history  of  religion  in  England,  upon  the  sacred 
song  of  the  Churchy  and  upon  the  military  glory  of 
Britain  under  the  great  Duke.  Like  Moses,  he  refused 
to  be  the  heir  of  a  landed  proprietor,  and  chose  to 
suffer  hardships  in  the  poor  parsonage  at  home,  and 
to  win. his  way  to  spiritual  usefulness. 

He  had  a  long  and  complete  classical  training ;  was 
nine  years  at  Christ  Church,  Oxford ;  became  a  deft 
master  of  pure  English  ;  and  so  was  being  prepared 
for  writing  some  of  our  richest  and  most  classic 
hymns. 

At  Oxford  he  began  a  course  of  such  systematic 
study,  such  scrupulous  regularity  in  the  use  of  his 
time,  and  in  attendance  at  the  services  of  the  Church, 
that  he  was  nicknamed  Methodist." 

He  became  the   centre  of  a  small  ^'Society"  of 


i88 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  HYMNAL. 


pious  gownsmen.  This  "Godly  Club"  was  soon 
joined  by  John  Wesley,  whose  energy  and  generalship 
gave  it  a  wider  influence.  These  two  were  the  Moses 
and  Aaron  of  the  movement  afterwards  called  The 
Methodist  Revival." 

But  thus  far  neither  had  learnt  the  simple  Gospel. 
They  were  intensely  religious,  but  their  religion  was 
one  of  rigorous  Churchism. 

The  brothers  went  on  a  mission  to  Georgia  under  ^ 
the  "Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel." 
The  hfe  of  Charles  was  attempted  more  than  once, 
and  his  efforts  proved  a  failure.  In  feeble  health  he 
returned  to  England,  during  his  two  months'  voyage 
experiencing  a  terrible  storm  at  sea.  The  impression 
left  on  his  mind  by  this  voyage  led  him  to  write,  in 
later  years,  the  hymn  to  be  sung  at  sea : 

"  Throughout  the  deep  Thy  footsteps  shine, 
We  own  Thy  way  is  in  the  sea, 
O'erawed  by  majesty  divine, 
And  lost  in  Thy  immensity." 

At  home  he  met  many  of  the  godly  aristocracy. 
He  became  tutor  to  Peter  Bohler,  a  Moravian  who 
was  preparing  to  go  as  a  missionary  to  Georgia. 
The  tutor  taught  his  pupil  English,  and  the  pupil 
taught  his  tutor  a  higher  subject. 

Wesley  seemed  once  "  on  the  point  to  die,"  and  the 
Moravian  asked  him,  "  Do  you  hope  to  be  saved  ?  " 
Charles  answered,  "  Yes."  "  For  what  reason  do  you 
hope  it  ?  "  "  Because  I  have  used  my  best  endeavours 
to   serve   God."     In  recounting  the   event  Charles 


METHODIST  REVIVAL  HYMNS. 


189 


Wesley  says,  He  shook  his  head  and  said  no  more. 
I  thought  him  very  uncharitable,  saying  in  my  heart  : 
Would  he  rob  me  of  my  endeavours  ? "  But  that 
sad,  silent,  significant  shake  of  the  head  shattered  his 
confidence  in  his  endeavours."  It  was  left  to  a 
"  poor  ignorant  mechanic,  who  knows  nothing  but 
Christ,"  to  teach  him  to  hope,  not  in  endeavours,  but 
in  the  merits  of  a  perfect  Saviour. 

Curious  that  Luther  On  the  Galatians  was  the 
book  which  brought  him  most  light.  This  again  is 
the  Apostolic  Succession,  the  succession  of  world- 
wide influence. 

It  does  not  fall  within  the  scope  of  the  present 
sketch  to  tell  of  all  his  work  as  an  evangelist,  and 
as  the  founder  of  Methodist  Societies.  It  is  as  a 
hymn-writer  that  we  are  now  studying  him. 

Coleridge  says  of  Luther:  ''He  did  as  much  for 
the  Reformation  by  his  hymns  as  by  his  translation 
of  the  Bible,  for  in  Germany  the  hymns  are  known 
by  heart  by  every  peasant.  They  advise,  they  argue, 
from  the  hymns." 

So  Charles  Wesley  sang  the  Gospel  into  hundreds 
of  hearts  that  would  never  have  been  touched  by  the 
preaching  of  his  brother. 

George  Eliot  in  Adam  Bede  describes  Seth  Bede, 
the  village  Methodist,  as  driving  away  all  his  griefs 
and  perplexities  as  he  strode  across  the  lonely  Derby- 
shire moors,  on  a  bright  Sunday  morning,  by  singing 
Wesley's  "  Morning  Hymn  : " 

"  Christ,  Whose  glory  fills  the  skies.' 


190 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  HYMNAL. 


The  same  author  describes  another  Methodist, 
Dinah  Morris  (in  Adam  Bede),  as  singing  away  her 
sorrows  with  another  of  Wesley's  hymns  : 

"  Eternal  Beam  of  light  divine, 
Fountain  of  unexhausted  love  ; 
In  Whom  the  Father's  glories  shine 
Through  earth  beneath  and  Heaven  above." 

Wesley  had  learnt  a  system  of  shorthand,  and 
usually  dashed  down  his  hymns  in  this  shape  at 
first,  just  as  they  came  into  his  mind. 

It  was  his  habit  to  carry  small  cards  in  his  pocket- 
book,  on  which  he  wrote  down  the  Hnes  of  his  hymns 
as  they  arose  in  his  mind.  Many  of  his  verses 
upon  Prayer  and  Communion  were  composed  and 
jotted  down  immediately  after  leaving  the  Prayer 
Meeting  and  the  Communion  Table. 

"  Often  would  he  get  off  his  horse,  throwing  the 
reins  loose  to  let  the  animal  graze  by  the  roadside, 
while  he  sat  upon  a  stone-heap  or  a  stile,  and  recorded 
in  verse  the  *  experiences '  through  which  his  soul 
had  passed  in  some  little  conventicle  where  he  had 
been  holding  forth  the  Word  of  Life." 

One  of  his  hymns,  not  commonly  sung,  interprets 
a  scene  at  Land's  End.  There  the  extreme  projection 
of  the  land  stands  two  hundred  feet  above  the  boiling, 
seething  waters  of  the  British  Channel  and  the 
Atlantic  : 

"  Lo  !  on  a  narrow  neck  of  land 
Tvvixt  two  unbounded  seas  I  stand." 


ME  THODIS  T  REVI VA  L  H  YMNS. 


191 


The  motif  of  his 

"  Oh  !  for  a  thousand  tongues  to  sing 
My  dear  Redeemer's  praise," 
was  to  commemorate  his  own  conversion.  The  key- 
note was  probably  given  him  by  a  remark  of  the 
Moravian  missionary,  Peter  Bohler :  Had  I  a 
thousand  tongues  1  would  praise  Him  with  them 
all." 

Of   his  hymns  some  twenty -two  are  in  commoTl>^ 
use.    The  most  precious,  and  most  famous,  however, 
is  : 

Jesus,  Lover  of  my  soul." 

The  traditional  origin  of  the  hymn  is  that  Wesley 
was  seated  at  his  desk  when  a  bird,  pursued  by  a 
hawk,  flew  in  at  the  open  window.  The  baffled  hawk 
did  not  dare  to  follow,  and  the  poet  took  his  pen 
and  wrote  this  immortal  song  about  Christ,  the 
Refuge  of  the  soul." 

Few  hymns  have  been  such  a  comfort  to  the  weary 
and  dying  as  this.  One  could  tell  many  stories 
connected  with  it. 

Several  years  ago  a  ship  was  burned  in  the  English 
Channel.  Among  the  passengers  were  a  father, 
mother,  and  their  infant  daughter.  When  the  alarm 
of  fire  was  given  the  family  became  separated  in 
the  confusion.  The  father  was  rescued  and  taken 
to  Liverpool ;  but  mother  and  child  were  carried 
overboard,  drifted  out  of  the  Channel,  the  mother 
clinging  to  a  fragment  of  the  wreck,  her  little  one 
clasped  to  her  breast. 


192 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  HYMNAL. 


A  vessel  bound  from  Newport,  Wales,  to  America, 
was  moving  slowly  on  her  course.  Their  attention 
was  called  to  the  floating  object :  there  was  no  ship 
within  sight,  and  they  thought  it  could  not  be  a 
human  being.  But  they  sent  a  boat.  As  the  boat 
approached  the  floating  fragment,  suddenly  the  sound 
of  a  gentle  voice  was  borne  on  the  breeze,  and  the 
sailors  heard  these  words  sung  : 

"  Jesus,  Lover  of  my  soul." 

Mother  and  child  were  rescued,  were  afterwards 
conveyed  to  America,  where  they  found  husband  and 
father. 

Another  story  is  told,  and,  although  evidently 
"  cooked,"  may  well  have  had  something  true  to 
cook. 

A  party  of  Northern  tourists  formed  part  of  a  large 
company  gathered  on  the  deck  of  an  excursion 
steamer,  that  was  moving  slowly  down  the  historic 
Potomac  one  beautiful  evening  in  the  summer  of  1 88 1. 
A  gentleman  had  been  delighting  the  party  with  his 
happy  rendering  of  many  famfliar  hymns,  the  last 
being  the  petition,  so  dear  to  every  loving  heart, 
"Jesus,  Lover  of  my  soul." 

The  singer  gave  the  first  two  verses  with  much 
feeling,  and  a  peculiar  emphasis  upon  the  concluding 
lines  that  thrilled  every  heart.  A  hush  had  fallen 
upon  the  listeners,  that  was  not  broken  for  some 
seconds  after  the  musical  notes  had  died  away. 

Then  a  gentleman  made  his  way  from  the  outskirts 


METHODIST  REVIVAL  HYMNS. 


193 


of  the  crowd  to  the  side  of  the  singer,  and  accosted 
him  with,  Beg  your  pardon,  sir,  but  were  you 
actively  engaged  in  the  late  war  ? " 

^'Yes,  sir,"  the  man  of  song  answered  courteously; 

I  fought  under  General  Grant." 

"  Well,"  the  first  speaker  continued,  I  did  my 
fighting  on  the  other  side,  and  think — indeed  am 
quite  sure — I  was  very  near  you  one  bright  night 
eighteen  years  ago  this  very  month.  It  was  much  such 
a  night  as  this.  If  I  am  not  mistaken,  you  were  on 
guard-duty.  We  of  the  South  had  sharp  business 
on  hand.  I  crept  near  your  post  of  duty,  my  weapon 
in  my  hand ;  the  shadows  hid  me.  Your  beat  led 
you  into  the  clear  light.  As  you  paced  back  and 
forth  you  were  humming  the  tune  of  the  hymn  you 
have  just  sung.  I  raised  my  gun  and  aimed  at  your 
heart, — and  I  had  been  selected  by  my  commander 
for  the  work  because  I  was  a  sure  shot.  Then  out 
upon  the  night  floated  the  words  : 

"  '  Cover  my  defenceless  head 
Wifeji  the  shadow  of  Thy  wing.' 

Your  prayer  was  answered.  I  couldn't  fire  after 
that.  And  there  was  no  attack  made  upon  your 
camp  that  night.  I  felt  sure,  when  I  heard  you 
singing  this  evening,  that  you  were  the  man  whose 
life  I  was  spared  from  taking 

The  singer  grasped  the  hand  of  the  Southerner  and 
said,  with  much  emotion :  I  remember  the  night  very 
well,  and  distinctly  the  feeling   of  depression  and 

13 


194 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  HYMNAL. 


loneliness  with  which  I  went  forth  to  ni}^  duty.  I 
knew  my  post  was  one  of  great  danger.  I  paced 
my  lonely  beat,  thinking  of  home  and  friends  and 
all  that  life  holds  dear. 

Then  the  thought  of  God's  care  came  to  me  with 
peculiar  force,  and  I  sang  the  prayer  of  my  heart, 
and  ceased  to  feel  alone.  How  the  pra3^er  was 
answered  I  never  knew  until  this  evening.  ^  Jesus, 
Lover  of  my  soul '  has  been  a  favourite  hymn ; 
now  it  will  be  inexpressibly  dear." 


IX. 


OLNEY  HYMNS. 

I.  COWPER. 

FROM  his  early  years  he  had  been  a  sensitive 
plant,  and  in  the  loss  of  his  mother — whose 
portrait  was  in  after  years  the  theme  of  one  of  his 
most  pathetic  poems — he  lost  that  shelter  which  his 
tender,  delicate  nature  needed. 

Yet  as  a  young  man  he  was  active,  an  excellent 
cricketer  and  football-player.  He  started  the  Non- 
sense Club,"  and  wrote  ballads,  some  of  which  won 
wide  popularity.  One,  in  pa^rticular,  became  famous, 
John  Gilpin^  the  story  of  "  how  he  went  farther  than 
he  intended,  and  came  safe  home  again." 

That  ballad,  with  its  wild,  sportive  delight  in  the 
comical,  is  as  unhke  the  hymns  he  wrote,  so  full  of 
conflict,  as  two  things  can  be 

/"^ut  his  sun  suddenly  became  dark  at  noonday. 

A  morbid  fancy  seized  him  that  he  had  sought 
a  certain  official's  death ;  and  the  balance  of  his 
reason  was  upset.  The  account  he  gives  in  his 
Autobiography  of  these  ghastly  times  is  terrible 
reading.    He  tried  to  take  his  own  life  in  various 


196 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  HYMNAL. 


ways — by  laudanum,  cord,  and  knife.  But  every 
attempt  failed;  and  he  felt  conscience-stricken,  and 
an  outcast  from  Divine  mercy. 

Under  high  professional  skill  he  was  slowly  re- 
stored to  mental  health.  He  became  filled  with 
religious  assurance  and  delight  in  God.  Sometimes 
a  light  surprises,"  etc.,  he  sings  in  one  of  his  hymns. 
At  this  stage  there  came  a  clear  shining  after 
rain." 

He  had  several  delightful  and  lofty  friendships — 
with  Newton,  the  Unwins,  Lady  Hesketh — which 
form  one  of  the  loveliest  stories  in  literature.  How 
he  and  Newton  came  to  live  beside  each  other  at 
Olney,  and  together  wrote  the  Olney  Hymns,  must 
be  told  when  Newton's  record  is  given. 

But,  under  the  religious  strain,  and  swaying  between 
assurance  and  despair  of  his  own  salvation,  his  reason 
began  to  reel.  He  said,  "  The  meshes  of  that  fine 
network,  the  brain,  are  composed  of  such  spinner's 
threads  in  me,  that  when  a  long  thought  finds  its 
way  into  them,  it  buzzes  and  twangs  and  bustles  about 
at  such  a  rate  as  seems  to  threaten  the  whole  con- 
texture." Attempting  his  own  life  several  times  again, 
he  was  taken  by  Newton  into  his  own  home  and 
tenderly  cared  for.  So  deep  was  his  despair  of  God, 
and  foreboding  of  eternal  ruin,  that,  when  "grace" 
was  being  said,  he  would  purposely  play  with  knife 
and  fork  to  show  he  had  no  part  in  it. 
/  Strange  that  he  whose  hymns  have  brought  thou- 
sands such  tender  comfort  and  peace  was  a  man 


OLNEY  HYMNS. 


197 


subject  to  the  most  melancholy  moods,  the  darkest 
gloom.  Of  Dante  his  contemporaries  said,  There 
goes  a  man  who  has  been  in  hell."  The  same  might 
be  said  of  Cowper.  And  it  was  probably  just  because 
he  knew  all  the  heart's  worst  experiences  that  he 
could  put  so  powerfully  in  verse  the  conflicts  and 
comforts  of  the  Christian. 

His  hymns  bear  the  marks  of  these  conflicts,  as 
in  : 

"  Oh,  for  a  closer  walk  with  God ;  " 
"  Sometimes  a  light  surprises." 

The  first  signs  of  his  recovery  appeared  one  day 
when,  in  the  usual  course  of  his  gardening,  some 
trifle  made  him  smile.  ^^That  is  the  first  smile 
for  sixteen  months,"  said  Newton.  Gardening  and 
carpentering  gave  him  gentle  employment. 

Everyone  knows  about  Cowper's  hares,  which  a 
friend  gave  him,  and  the  "Epitaph  on  a  Hare"  which 
he  wrote.  These,  as  well  as  some  other  animals  and 
birds,  helped  to  lift  the  gloom  off  his  mind ;  and 
once  more  he  became  able  to  write. 

Among  his  poems  are  The  Task,"  the  "  Progress 
of  Error,"  ''Truth;"  forming  some  of  the  most 
exquisite  gems  of  English  literature. 
/  For  seven  years  he  was  comparatively  cheerful. 
But  a  foreboding  of  another  attack  of  insanity  haunted 
him.  In  terror  of  the  approaching  gloom,  he  ordered, 
it  is  said,  a  postchaise,  and  told  the  coachman  to  drive 
him  to  the  River  Ouse,  his  intention  being  to  drown 


198  ROMANCE  OF  THE  HYMNAL. 

himself  in  it.    The  night  was  very  dark  :  the  coach- 
man mistook  the  road,  and  they  found  themselves 
unexpectedly  back  in  front  of  Cowper's  house  again. 
This  strange  thwarting  of  his  purpose   so  affected 
him  that  he  went  in  and  wrote  those  lines  : 
"God  moves  in  a  mysterious  way," 
This  inf:ident  probably  gave  him  hope  that  God  had 
better  things  in  store  for  him  than  a  fresh  attack  : 
"  Ye  fearful  saints,  fresh  courage  take ; 
The  ck)uds  ye  so  much  dread 
Are  big  with  mercy,  and  shall  break 
In  blessings  on  your  head." 

The  hymn — 

"  Jesus,  where'er  Thy  people  meet  " 
was  written  upon  the  occasion  of  the  removal  of  the 
prayer-meeting  at  Olney  from  its  old  scene  to  the 
"  Great  House."    Emphasis  is  placed  on  where'er." 

When  escaping  from  his  blighting  malady  he  paid 
a  visit  to  Huntingdon.  Finding  himself  a  stranger 
among  strangers,  and  dreading  a  return  of  his  trouble, 
"he  wandered  away,  strolling  quietly  through  lanes 
and  fields  ;  alone,  yet  not  alone,  for  God  was  with 
him.  The  scene  was  so  peaceful  and  calm  that  its 
spirit  entered  into  his  own  soul.  Coming  to  a 
grassy  knoll  beneath  a  leafy  canopy,  he  knelt  down 
and  poured  out  his  heart  in  prayer  and  praise. 
Confidence  in  God  came  back  again.  On  the  follow- 
ing morning  he  went  to  church  for  the  first  time 
since  his  period  of  insanity. 

''A  worshipper,  whose  whole  soul  seemed  thrown 


OLNEY  HYMNS. 


199 


into  the  praise  of  God  in  the  Psalm  which  was  being 
sung,  attracted  his  attention.  He  says :  '  I  looked 
at  him,  and  could  not  help  saying  in  my  heart,  with 
much  emotion,  The  Lord  bless  you  for  praising  Him 
Whom  my  soul  loveth."  ' 

When  the  service  was  over  he  went  back  to  the 
quiet  spot  where  he  had  found  joy  on  the  previous 
day,  and  there  again  he  felt  that  glorious  Presence 
which  giveth  life." 

This  was  the  birthplace  of  the  hymn,  included  in 
some  book^: — 

"  Far  from  the  world,  O  Lord,  I  flee, 
From  strife  and  tumult  far, 
From  scenes  where  Satan  wages  still 
His  most  successful  war. 

"  The  calm  retreat,  the  silent  shade. 
With  prayer  and  praise  agree  ; 
And  seem  by  Thy  sweet  bounty  made 
For  those  who  follow  Thee."  jr 

His  spirit  was  gentle,  and  could  bp^layful  when 
healthy ;  not  unlike  Charles  Lamb  in  his  pawky 
humour,  which,  however,  was  of  a  more  religious 
tone.  In  his  brighter  and  saner  moments  he  was 
not  gloomy,  but  a  delightful  companion.  His  life 
was  as  harmless  and  lovely  "as  the  lilies  he  loved." 
He  had  the  true  poet's  genius — genius  akin  to 
insanity. 

Strange  that  he,  who  had  been  a  minister  of  grace 
to  thousands,  died  in  despair,  saying  to  all  the 
assurances  of  friends  :  "  You  know  it  is  false ;  spare, 


206 


spare  me."  Yes,  here  again,  God  moves  in  a 
mysterious  way."  But  no  one,  except  the  dying  man 
himself,  doubted  t±iat  he  was  a  true  child  of  God,  a 
true  saint  burdened  with  a  constitutional  malady. 
Some  bad  men  die  without  horror :  their  calmness 
does  not  save  them.  Some  good  men  die  in  fear  : 
their  fear  does  not  destroy  them. 

Mrs.  Browning's  exquisite  piece  on  "Cowper's 
Grave    touches  a  sympathetic  chord  in  every  heart : 

"  O  Poets  I  from  a  maniac's  tongue  was  poured  the  deathless 

singing. 

O  Christians !  at  your  cross  of  hope,  a  hopeless  hand  was 
clinging. 

O    Men!    this    man    in    brotherhood,    your    wear}-  paths 
beguiling, 

Groaned  inly  while  he  taught  you  peace,  and  died  "while  ye 

•were  smilingP 

2.  Newtox. 

John  Newton's  life  was  an  eventful  one,  full  of 
desperate  deeds  and  hairbreadth  'scapes. 

His  mother,  a  devout,  godly  woman,  had  from  his 
infancy  dedicated  him  to  the  ministry.  But  she  *'  died 
in  faith,  not  having  received  the  promise." 

Following  his  father,  young  Newton  became  a  sailor. 
But  he  was  reckless  and  vicious,  and  being  his  own 
enemy  he  seemed  determined  that  no  one  should  be 
his  friend." 

He  was  forced   into  naval  service  on   board  the 


OLNEY  HYMNS. 


Harwich  man-of-war,  and  flung  virtue  and  religion 
to  the  winds. 

His  Narrative,  from  which  we  learn  the  facts  of 
his  history,  depicts  these  years  in  the  blackest  colours. 
Perhaps  the  picture  is  overdrawn.  Prodigals  who  have 
returned  are  always  tempted  to  exaggerate  the  wicked- 
ness of  their  godless  life.  But  when  full  allowance  is 
made  for  such  natural  exaggeration,  it  is  clear  that  his 
life  was  an  abandoned  and  vicious  one. 

Yet  he  had  conscience-stricken  hours.  In  the  utter- 
most parts  of  the  sea,  even  there  God's  hand  found  and 
touched  him.  Though  a  scapegrace,  he  occasionally 
fasted  and  prayed  and  read  his  Bible.  But  these 
whims  and  superstitions  did  not  last  long.  He  turned 
to  infidelity  for  a  time.  He  delighted  to  talk  virtue 
and  to  practise  vice. 

Not  every  infidel  is  a  profligate  by  any  means ;  but 
it  is  equally  clear  that  profligates  are  glad  to  be  infidels. 
The  profligates  of  the  world  are  a  witness  to  Chris- 
tianity, just  because  they  do  not  like,  cannot  endure, 
its  Hght  cast  upon  their  evil  deeds. 

He  deserted,  was  caught,  kept  in  irons,  publicly 
whipped,  and  was  degraded  from  the  rank  of  midship- 
man. He  was  in  consequence  filled  with  bitter  anger 
and  despair. 

By  a  mere  accident — a  midshipman  having  maliciously 
cut  his  hammock,  and  dropped  him  on  the  deck  and 
injured  him— he  was  exchanged  on  board  a  merchant 
vessel  trading  with  the  west  coast  of  Africa. 

It  was  here  that  he  landed  without  anything  but  the 


202 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  HYMNAL. 


clothes  on  his  back,  became  practicahy  a  white  slave 
among  black  ones,  and,  like  the  prodigal,  in  hunger  was 
glad  almost  of  the  swine-husks  for  food. 

Newton  was  an  instance  of  the  common  experience 
that  men  who  are  morally  shipwrecks  are  intellec- 
tually clever,  the  ruins  of  great  citizens.  He  amused 
himself  in  his  semi-slavery  by  stiidying  mathematics. 
He  mastered  Euclid,  drawing  the  figures  of  the  first 
six  books  on  the  sand. 

His  father  sent  out  money  to  ransom  him ;  but  the 
master  of  the  vessel  who  received  the  commission  was 
told  that  Newton  had  gone  far  inland,  and  so  took  no 
further  trouble  about  him.  But  in  reality  the  semi-slave 
was  not  a  mile  off.  Following  his  custom,  he  was 
walking  along  a  narrow  neck  of  land  on  the  beach.  He 
saw  and  hailed  a  passing  vessel :  it  stopped :  he  took 
a  canoe  and  went  out  to  it.  It  was  the  very  vessel 
whose  captain  carried  the  ransom  for  Newton's 
emancipation. 

On  the  homeward  voyage  he  was  treated  kindly  by 
the  captain,  and  having  httle  to  do,  took  up  Thomas  a 
Kempis. 

An  inventory  of  all  the  earnest  minds  that  have  been 
influenced  by  the  Imitatio  would  contain  many  great 
and  curious  names.  It  would  include  George  EUot, 
and  others  who  had  lost  their  Christian  faith,  indeed 
many  of  the  greatest  thinkers  and  workers  of  these 
later  centuries. 

Newton  was  affected  by  it.  "  What  if  these  things 
be  true  ?  "    A  storm  arose  ;  the  ship  seemed  sinking 


OLNEY  HYMNS. 


203 


and  book  and  storm  united  to  arouse  his  conscience. 
The  hurricane  passed,  but  while  he  had  been  at  the 
wheel,  steering  at  midnight,  a  crisis  in  his  heart  came, 
when  his  Hfe  of  sin  passed  before  him,  and  he  began 
to  pray  and  think  wistfully  of  Christ,  Whom  he  used  to 
deride.    This  was  the    Great  Deliverance." 

But  light  did  not  come  all  at  once.  He  desired 
to  change.  He  renounced  swearing  and  other  evil 
habits.  But  it  was  little  more  than  an  attempt  to 
mend  himself 

He  made  several  voyages  as  a  captain  ;  purchased 
slaves,  and  sold  them  again  in  the  West  Indies. 
Curious  what  contradictory  principles  can  live  in  the 
same  mind  !  His  conscience  did  not  trouble  him  on 
the  slave  question.  We  sometimes  wonder  if  there  is 
any  question  on  which  our  consciences  are  as  yet 
as  unenlightened. 

/    He  by-and-bye  met  a  captain  who  taught  him  the  \ 
true  way  of  faith  in  Christ,  and  he  became  a  sincere 
child  of  God. 

Through  a  sudden  attack  of  illness  he  was 
compelled  to  leave  the  sea,  and  became  a  tide- 
surveyor  or  ship-inspector  at  Liverpool ;  met  White- 
field,  Wesley,  Wilberforce;  occupied  spare  time  in 
studying  classics ;  applied  for  Ordination,  and  was 
refused  by  the  Archbishop  of  York  because  of  some 
formal  irregularity. 

But  the  Bishop  of  London  ordained  him,  and  he 
became  the  minister  of  Olney  Parish.  Thus  the  Pro- 
vidence that  had  so  strangely  watched  over  his  life 


204 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  HYMNAL. 


brought  Newton  and  Cowper  together.  Living  close 
beside  each  other,  they  were  scarcely  twelve  hours 
apart.  They  were  like  David  and  Jonathan  in  their 
friendship. 

Newton,  while  a  man  of  the  deepest  piety,  was  too 
stern  and  ultra-Calvinistic  a  companion  for  the  sensitive 
Cowper,  and  sometimes  unintentionally  increased  his 
mental  troubles. 

From  the  time  of  his  "  great  deliverance  "  he  kept  a 
diary,  of  which  the  following  passage  is  the  opening : 

I  dedicate  unto  Thee,  most  blessed  God,  this  clean, 
unsullied  book,  and  at  the  same  time  renew  my  tender 
of  a  foul,  blotted,  corrupt  heart." 

Together  they  held  a  prayer-meeting  every  week,  and 
Newton  proposed  that  they  should  unitedly  write  a 
volume  of  hymns,  partly  for  the  promotion  and  com- 
fort of  sincere  Christians,"  and  partly  as  a  memorial  of 
their  intimacy.  Many  of  them  were  written  for  use 
in  these  weekly  prayer-meetings.  The  volume  was 
not  pubHshed  for  eight  years  after  it  was  begun.  It 
appeared  under  the  name  of  Olney  Hymns,  the  place 
giving  the  title  to  the  book. 

Of  the  Olney  Hymns  Cowper  composed  about  sixty- 
eight,  Newton  about  two  hundred  and  eighty.  Many 
of  these  are  quite  unsuitable  for  public  praise.  In 
proportion  to  the  number  that  each  wrote,  Cowper 
has  far  more  that  are  held  dear  by  Christian  hearts 
everywhere. 

Newton  wrote  o:ie  well-known  prose  work — 
Cardiphonia. 


OLNEY  HYMNS.  205 

When  fifty-four  he  became  Rector  of  St.  Mary 
Woolnoth,  in  Lombard  Street,  in  the  City  of  London. 
Here  his  ministry  was  much  blessed ;  far  more  popular 
than  in  his  former  sphere  in  Buckinghamshire.  Many 
flocked  to  Lombard  Street  to  get  their  spiritual  food 
from  him.  Here  he  died  at  the  age  of  eighty-two.  His 
epitaph  was  written  by  himself : 

"John  Newton,  Clerk, 
Once  an  infidel  and  libertine, 
A  servant  of  slaves  in  Africa, 
Was  by  the  rich  mercy  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour 
Jesus  Christ, 
Preserved,  restored,  pardoned. 
And  appointed  to  preach  the  Faith 
He  had  long  laboured  to  destroy, 
Near  16  years  at  Olney,  in  Bucks  ; 
And     years  in  this  church." 

He  was  certainly  a  brand  plucked  from  the  burning; 
his  life  a  study  in  Providence ;  the  change  in  his  cha- 
racter a  witness  to  the  transforming  power  of  grace  ; 
the  hymns  he  has  left  among  the  most  devout  and 
simple,  full  of  grace  and  truth. 

Few  of  his  hymns  appear  to  be  drawn  from  episodes 
in  his  career.  One,  not  found  in  most  Flymnals, 
beginning — 

"  Saviour,  visit  Thy  plantation," 

is  clearly  drawn  from  the  time  when  he  used  to  plant 
lime  and  lemon  trees  in  Africa.  If  his  hymns  have  not 
a  special  history,  he  himself  has. 


2o6 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  HYMNAL. 


Another  contains  a  biographical  metaphor 

"  Begone,  unbelief, 

My  Saviour  is  near, 
And  for  my  relief 

Will  surely  appear : 
By  prayer  let  me  wrestle. 

And  He  will  perform  ; 
With  Christ  in  the  vessel 

I  smile  at  the  storm." 


X. 


CLASSIC  MISSIONARY  HYMNS. 
I.  Heber. 

BISHOP  HEBER,  a  native  of  Cheshire,  entered 
Brasenose  College,  Oxford,  just  when  this  cen- 
tury began.  His  father  was  a  clergyman  both  wealthy 
and  scholarly,  and  his  brother  had  collected  a  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  volumes  in  his  library  :  both  circum- 
stances helping  to  foster  in  young  Heber  a  literary 
taste.  At  seven  he  had  versified  Phaedrus ;  and  at 
Oxford  he  gained,  in  his  first  year,  the  prize  for  the 
best  Latin  poem,  and,  two  years^  later,  the  prize  for 
the  best  English  poem  (''Palestine").  This  position  of 
honour  has  often  since  then  foretold  literary  fame. 

His  brilliant  career  won  for  him  a  scholarship,  and 
then  he  began  his  travels  on  the  Continent.  The  path 
to  literary  fame  lay  open  to  him,  but  he  preferred  to 
be  a  minister  of  Christ.  On  his  return  his  brother 
gave  him  the  living  of  Hodnet  in  Shropshire.  He 
became  Preacher  at  Lincoln's  Inn  and  Bampton 
Lecturer,  and  author  of  various  works  in  prose  and 
poetry.    In  his  parish  work  he  devoted  himself  to  the 


208 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  HYMNAL. 


welfare  of  his  people  heedless  of  personal  danger  in 
times  of  epidemics. 

Twice  he  was  offered  the  Bishopric  of  Calcutta,  and 
twice  refused  the  responsibility.  Asked  for  the  third 
time,  he  accepted,  and  sailed  in  1823,  and  was  soon 
actively  engaged  in  planting  churches,  and  visiting  and 
cheering  missionaries.  His  travels  he  described  in  his 
Journey  through  India, 

But  his  work  lasted  only  three  years.  He  returned 
one  day  from  a  Confirmation  in  a  heated  state,  and 
soon  after  was  found  dead  in  his  bath,  an  attack 
of  apoplexy  having  cut  him  off  at  the  age  of  forty- 
three. 

He  was  thus  a  many-sided  man :  observant  traveller, 
enthusiastic  missionary,  scholar,  and  author  and 
poet. 

Thackeray,  in  his  Four  Georges^  writes  of  Heber 
thus  :  "  We  have  spoken  of  a  good  soldier  and  good 
men  of  letters  as  specimens  of  English  gentlemen  of 
the  age  just  past ;  may  we  not  also  speak  of  a  good 
divine,  and  mention  Reginald  Heber  as  one  of  the 
best  of  EngHsh  gentlemen  ?  The  charming  poet,  the 
happy  possessor  of  all  sorts  of  gifts  and  accomplish- 
ments— birth,  wit,  fame,  high  character,  competence — 
he  was  the  beloved  parish  priest  in  his  own  home 
of  Hodnet,  counselling  the  people  in  their  troubles, 
advising  them  in  their  difficulties,  kneeling  often  at 
their  sick-beds  at  the  hazard  of  his  own  life;  where 
there  was  strife,  the  peacemaker ;  where  there  was 
want,  the  free  giver. 


CLASSIC  MISSIONARY  HYMNS. 


209 


"  When  the  Indian  Bishopric  was  offered  him  he 
refused  at  first,  but  after  communing  with  himself  (and 
committing  his  case  to  the  quarter  whither  such  pious 
men  are  wont  to  carry  their  doubts),  he  withdrew  his 
refusal  and  prepared  himself  for  his  mission  and  to 
leave  his  beloved  parish.  '  Little  children,  love  one 
another  and  forgive  one  another,'  were  the  last  sacred 
words  he  said  to  his  weeping  people.  Like  those  other 
good  men  of  whom  we  have  spoken,  love  and  duty 
were  his  life's  aim.  Happy  he,  happy  they,  who  were 
so  gloriously  faithful  to  both." 

He  is  most  widely  known  and  will  be  remembered 
longest  as  a  hymn-writer. 

His  desire  was,  as  he  says  in  a  prefatory  note,  to 
write  hymns  for  the  Sundays  and  principal  Holy  Days 
of  the  year,  connected  in  some  degree  with  their  par- 
ticular Collects  and  Gospels,  and  designed  to  be  sung 
between  the  Nicene  Creed  and  the  sermon."  He  was 
not  able  to  finish  his  design,  but  he  wrote  in  all  fifty- 
seven  pieces,  and  other  authors  were  drawn  upon  after 
his  death  in  order  to  complete  the  Christian  year. 

"  Holy,  holy,  holy,  Lord  God  Almighty," 

meant  for  Trinity  Sunday,  is  one  of  the  loftiest 
expressions  of  devout  adoration.  The  tune  ''Nicsea" 
was  expressly  composed  by  Rev.  J.  B.  Dykes  for  this 
hymn,  and  takes  its  name  from  the  Council  of  Nice,  at 
which  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  was  affirmed  against 
the  Arians. 

\  "From  Greenland's  icy  mountains  " 


210 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  HYMNAL 


was  written  by  Heber  when  he  was  on  a  visit  to  his 
father-in-law,  the  Dean  of  St.  Asaph  and  Vicar  of 
Wrexham.  It  was  Whit  Sunday,  and  a  missionary 
collection  in  aid  of  the  "  Society  for  the  Propagation  of 
the  Gospel "  was  to  be  taken.  On  the  Saturday  the 
Dean  asked  Heber  to  prepare  some  verses  to  be  sung 
at  the  close  of  the  Morning  Service.  Seated  at  the 
vicarage  window  he  set  to  work,  and  at  a  heat  com- 
posed this  hymn,  with  the  exception  of  the  lines 
''W^aft,  waft,  ye  winds,  His  story."  Not  thinking  it 
complete  he  returned  to  the  window  and  added  that 
verse.  He  would  have  added  another  stanza,  but 
the  Dean  pleaded  that  anything  more  would  mar 
the  unity  of  the  whole.  The  MS.  was  shown  at  the 
great  Exhibition  of  185 1. 


2.  Montgomery. 

James  Montgomery,  a  native  of  Ayrshire,  born  over  a 
century  ago  (1771),  belonged  to  a  Moravian  famity. 
Of  Irish  parentage,  he  was  born  in  Scotland,  and  spent 
his  life  in  England.  He  was  educated  at  the  Moravian 
Seminary  at  Fulneck,  near  Leeds.  When  twelve  his 
parents  left  him  at  home  to  go  as  missionaries  to  the 
slaves  of  the  West  Indies,  and  there  in  a  few  years 
they  died. 

He  refused  to  become  a  minister,  and  chose  to  be 
apprenticed  as  a  chandler  at  Mirfield.  Quitting  this 
business,  he  came  to  the  metropolis  to  seek  his  fortune 
in  the  fields  of  literature.    At  the  age  of  sixteen  he 


CLASSIC  MISSIONARY  HYMNS. 


211 


was  a  wanderer  in  the  world.  Disappointed,  he  joined 
the  staff  of  a  Sheffield  paper,  and,  upon  the  departure 
of  the  editor,  he  took  charge  of  it. 

For  writing  what  was  considered  a  seditious  libel 
he  was  twice  sent  to  York  Castle  to  prison.  Here  he 
found  material  for  his  first  volume.  Prison  Amuse- 
ments: by  Paul  Positive,  which  was  issued  soon  after  his 
release.  He  wrote  stories,  squibs,  satires,  and  sonnets, 
which  brought  him  local  fame. 

He  now  devoted  himself  to  hterature.  Besides 
editing  his  paper,  and  contributing  to  The  Eclectic 
Review,  he  wrote  various  volumes  of  poems.  But, 
while  his  hymns  are  remembered,  his  more  ambitious 
efforts  are  forgotten. 

After  conducting  the  Sheffield  Register  for  twenty- 
five  years  he  resigned  his  arduous  duties ;  but  his  pen 
was  never  idle.  A  gift  which  had  been  made  to  him  he 
generously  used  to  re-establish  the  Moravian  Mission 
in  Tobago,  which  had  been  abandoned  since  his  father 
died.  It  was  thereafter  known  as  the  ^'  Montgomery 
Station."  He  visited  various  towns  to  promote  the 
cause  of  Missions. 

Although  so  generous  and  missionary  in  spirit,  he 
passed  through,  like  Cowper,  periods  of  deep  despon- 
dency and  spiritual  gloom. 

It  was,  no  doubt,  this  wide  experience  of  the  sorrows 
of  the  soul  that  made  him  meet  for  the  Master  s  use  as 
a  hymn-writer. 

The  Government — v/hich  at  one  time  had  put  him  in 
prison — cheered  his  later  life  by  giving  him  a  pension  of 


212 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  HYMNAL. 


;^I50.  In  his  quiet  home,  near  Sheffield,  he  gathered 
a  few  chosen  spirits  around  him,  who  were  privileged 
to  come  in  contact  with  his  kindly  nature,  and  listen 
to  his  simple  and  ardent  conversation.  On  his  death, 
in  1854,  he  received  a  public  funeral. 

Most  of  his  hymns  were  written  in  the  earlier  part 
of  his  life — some  of  them  in  prison,  like  Bunyan's 
Pilgrim's  Progress  and  Raleigh's  History.  In  later  years 
he  had  less  facility  in  writing  verse,  although  it  was  near 
the  close  that  he  wrote  one  of  his  most  lofty  pieces  : 

"  For  ever  with  the  Lord." 

He  composed  his  verses,  we  are  told,  very  slowly 
and  only  by  fits."  He  ^*  lay  in  wait  for  his  heart,"  to 
catch  its  highest  emotions. 

When  seriously  ill  and  advanced  in  years,  he 
once  offered  some  of  his  hymns  to  his  attending 
physician  that  they  might  be  read  aloud  to  him.  But 
he  became  very  much  affected  by  them,  saying  that 
every  one  embodied  some  distinct  experience,  and 
adding  that  he  hoped  they  might  be  profitable  to 
others  from  this  fact." 

There  is  one  piece  which  is  sometimes  designated 
a  hymn,  and  even  appears  in  certain  books  of  praise ; 
which,  however,  is  unsuitable  for  use  in  public  worship. 
It  is  the  well-known  and  much-loved  piece  : 

"  Prayer  is  the  soul's  sincere  desire, 
Uttered  or  unexpressed." 

Among  Christian  lyrics  there  are  few  things  more  pure 
and  spiritual.    The  author  has  told  us  that  he  received 


CLASSIC  MISSIONARY  HYMNS. 


213 


more  proofs  of  good  having  been  done  by  these  verses 
than  by  any  other  of  his  productions.  One  of  its  Hnes 
was  fulfilled  in  his  own  experience,  for  he  entered 
heaven  by  prayer." 

"O  spirit  of  the  living  God," 

is  one  of  his  missionary  hymns  ;  also  another,  and  more 
widely  known,  on  the  same  subject : 

"  Hail  to  the  Lord's  Anointed.'" 

written  in  1 821,  and  printed  privately  as  a  leaflet  for 
use  in  a  congregation  at  Fulneck. 

The  author  was  addressing  a  great  meeting  in  a 
church  at  Liverpool,  and  at  the  close  he  recited  this 
hymn.  Dr.  Samuel  Clarke,  who  was  present,  begged 
the  loan  of  the  MS.  and  printed  it  in  his  illustrious 
Commentary  beside  the  seventy-second  Psalm,  of  which 
it  is  a  version. 

"  Sow  in  the  morn  thy  seed, 
At  eve  hold  not  thy  hand." 

Montgomery  took  a  deep  interest  in  the  welfare  of 
the  young,  and  he  wrote  a  new  hymn  for  each  Whit 
Monday  gathering  of  the  Sunday  Schools  of  the  town. 
Every  year,  for  about  twenty-five  years,  his  hymn  was 
sung  by  twenty  thousand  children.  This  is  one  of  the 
number  that  he  wrote  for  the  Sunday  School  Treat." 
It  clearly  refers  to  the  "  morn  "  of  youth,  and  the  seed 
sown  then — the  fruit  to  be  gathered  at  the  eve  of  life. 
Originally  it  consisted  of  seven  stanzas. 

"  For  ever  v^ith  the  Lord  " 


214 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  HYMNAL. 


had,  he  said,  brought  more  hearts  comfort  than  any 
other  of  his  verses  except  those  on  Prayer."  This 
hymn  was  the  favourite  of  the  late  Earl  Cairns,  and 
was  sung  at  his  funeral  services.  As  written,  it  con- 
sisted of  twenty-one  stanzas. 

There  is  another  hymn  of  his  which  had  an  interest- 
ing origin.  In  1849  he  received  a  well-merited  honour 
when  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  on  the  occasion 
of  its  Jubilee,  asked  him  to  write  a  missionary  hymn, 
which  was  to  be  translated  into  all  the  languages  in 
which  the  Gospel  had  been  preached,  and  which  was 
to  be  sung,  and  was  sung,  at  the  same  time  by  Christians 
in  all  lands  under  Heaven.    The  hymn  was 

"  The  King  of  Glory  we  proclaim." 


XI. 


EVANGELICAL  HYMNS. 
I.  Charlotte  Elliott. 

CHARLOTTE  ELLIOTT  was  born  at  Brighton 
a  century  ago.    One  of  her  grandfathers  was 
Henry  Venn,  of  holy  memory,  author  of  The  Complete 
Duty  of  MaUy  and  honoured  for  his  graces  and  gifts. 
The  home  and  surroundings  into  which  she  was  born 
were  pious,  cultured,  musical,  artistic,  and  happy. 
/    From  a  comparatively  early  age  she  was  a  sufferer, 
/  and  by-and-bye,  when  forty,  became  a  helpless,  in- 
\  curable  invalid. 

Dr.  Caesar  Malan,  of  Geneva,  was  on  a  visit  at  her 
father's  house  at  Brighton,  when  he  became  acquainted 
with  her  case.  He  found  her  trying  to  work  out  h^r 
own  righteousness,  only  looking  to  Christ  to  make 
up  for  her  failures,  unwilling  to  trust  Him  entirely. 
He  is  reported  to  have  urged  her :  Cut  the  cable ; 
it  will  take  too  long  to  unloose  it ;  cut  it ;  it  is  a  small 
loss;  the  wind  blows  and  the  ocean  is  before  you — 
the  Spirit  of  God  and  eternity." 

His  visit  marked  the  turning-point  in  her  life,  and 


2l6 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  HYMNAL. 


his  correspondence,  carried  on  till  his  death  in  1864, 
was  a  constant  source  of  strength  and  comfort  to  her. 

She  was  able  to  be  moved  about  with  care  from 
one  place  to  another,  but  Torquay,  next  to  Brighton, 
was  her  home  for  the  longest  period.  There  she 
lived  fourteen  years,  and  there  she  wTote  many  of 
her  hymns,  in  a  harbour  overlooking  the  beautiful 
bay  of  Torquay.  It  was  not  far  off,  across  Tor  Bay, 
at  Brixham,  that  Lyte  wrote  his  most  exquisite 
lines,  "  Abide  with  me,"  etc. 

The  place  of  her  birth  was  the  place  of  her  death, 
which  occurred  in  1871.  Considering  her  chronic 
ill-health  she  attained  a  great  age — eighty-two.  She 
had  been  a  martyr  to  pain  and  helpless  feebleness  for 
fifty  years.  Many  of  her  hymns  were  written  during 
times  of  suffering,  and  she  seems  to  have  found  relief 
in  thus  giving  poetic  expression  to  her  devotion  and 
clinging  faith.    She  says  of  her  illness  : 

"  He  knows,  and  He  alone,  what  it  is  da}^  after 
day,  hour  after  hour,  to  fight  against  bodily  feelings 
of  almost  overpowering  weakness,  languor,  and  ex- 
haustion, to  resolve  not  to  yield  to  slothfulness, 
depression,  and  instability,  such  as  the  body  causes 
me.  to  long  to  indulge,  but  to  rise  every  morning, 
determined  to  take  for  my  motto,  '  If  any  man  will 
come  after  Me,  let  him  deny  himself,  and  take  up  his 
cross  daily,  and  follow  Me.'  " 

But  no  one  can  write  such  verses  as 

*'  My  God  and  Father,  while  I  stray," 

\ 


EVANGELICAL  HYMNS. 


217 


without  passing  through  the  hot  "  furnace  of  Hving 
pain."  He  who  would  sit  on  the  throne  of  honour 
must  drink  the  cup  she  drank,  and  be  baptized  with 
her  baptism  of  suffering. 

In  1836  the  Invalid's  Hymn  Book  was  published, 
and  contained  one  hundred  and  fifteen  pieces  from 
Charlotte  Elliott's  pen,  including  the  hymn  we  all 
know  so  well  and  love  so  sincerely, 

"  Just  as  I  am." 

It  has  led  many  to  throw  off  all  self-trust,  has 
enabled  others  to  take  the  decisive  step,  has  put 
words  into  many  Hps  by  which  the  heart  has  been 
able  to  get  the  true  resting-place.  It  is  the  actual 
language  of  faith.  He  who  can  think  it  as  he  says  it 
is  assuredly  accepted. 

The  son-in-law  of  the  poet  Wordsworth  wrote  to 
her  to  thank  her  for  her  hymn,  and  to  tell  her  what 
comfort  it  had  given  his  wife,  Wordsworth's  daughter, 
on  her  dying  bed.  "  When  I  first  read  it,"  he  wrote, 
^'  I  had  no  sooner  finished  than  she  said,  very 
earnestly,  '  That  is  the  very  thing  for  me.'  At  least 
ten  times  that  day  she  asked  me  to  repeat  it,  and 
every  morning  from  that  day  until  her  decease,  nearly 
two  months  later,  the  first  thing  she  asked  for  was  her 
hymn.  'Now  my  hymn,'  she  would  say,  and  she 
would  often  repeat  it  after  me,  fine  for  line,  in  the 
day  and  night." 

Charlotte  Elhott's  doctor  once  brought  her  a  leaflet 
on  which  this  hymn  was  printed  anonymously.  I 


2l8 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  HYMNAL. 


know,"  he  said,  little  guessing  who  was  the  author, 
"  that  this  will  please  3^ou."  It  pleased  her  in  a  way 
he  had  not  intended,  for  it  could  not  fail  to  be  a  delight 
to  her  to  find  to  her  surprise  that  her  hymn  had  been 
printed,  and  was  thus  being  circulated  and  prized. 

"A  little  street  waif  once  came  to  a  New  York 
cit}^  missionary,  and  held  up  a  torn  and  dirty  piece  of 
paper.  '  Please,  sir,'  said  he,  '  father  sent  me  to  get 
a  clean  paper  like  that.'  Opening  it,  the  missionary 
found  it  was  a  page  leaflet,  containing  this  hymn.  He 
asked  where  she  got  it.  '  We  found  it,  sir,  in  sister's 
pocket  after  she  died.  She  used  to  be  always  singing 
it  while  she  was  ill.  Will  you  give  us  a  clean  one, 
sir?  She  wanted  father  to  get  a  clean  one  and 
frame  it.'  " 

In  the  Sunday  at  Home  plebiscite,  it  stands  fourth 
in  favour — the  first  being  Rock  of  Ages,"  the  second 
"Abide  with  me,"  the  third  ''Jesus,  Lover  of  my 
soul." 

2.  BONAR. 

The  Rev.  Horatius  Bonar,  D.D.,  is  the  most  prolific 
writer  of  first-rate  hymns  in  the  present  century.  He 
began  composing  sacred  pieces  before  he  was  ordained, 
and  has  issued  various  volumes  of  verse,  the  best 
being  Hymns  of  Faith  and  Hope  in  three  series. 

While  minister  at  Kelso  {i^'^ySG),  he  did  much 
to  revive  spiritual  life  in  his  country  by  his  Kclso 
Tracts.  In  the  same  line  he  has  even  done  better 
service  in  writing  two  httle  prose  works,  called  God^s 


EVANGELICAL  HYMNS 


219 


Way  of  Peace  and  God^s  Way  of  Holiness.  The  former 
is  scarcely  surpassed  as  a  simple  yet  thoughtful  guide 
for  the  heart  in  its  search  for  peace  with  God.  Chris- 
tian workers  would  do  well  to  possess  a  copy. 

At  the  Disruption  in  1843,  he  followed  his  old 
professor  (Dr.  Chalmers),  and  Dr.  Guthrie  in  their 
secession.  In  1866  he  became  minister  of  the 
Chalmers  Memorial "  or  Grange  Free  Church,  Edin- 
burgh, and  has  since  been  selected  to  be  Moderator 
of  the  Free  Church  Assembly.  In  March  1888  his 
jubilee  was  celebrated,  and  in  August  1889  he  died. 

His  hymns  appear  to  have  no  known  history.  In 
a  courteous  and  kind  reply  to  a  letter  of  enquiry  which 
the  writer  sent,  his  son  says  : 

"  There  is  no  pubhcation  which  contains  any 
account  of  the  history  or  circumstances  connected 
with  the  origin  of  any  of  my  father's  hymns.  Indeed, 
my  father  has  kept  no  record  himself  of  even  their 
dates. 

"  His  '  I  lay  my  sins  on  Jesus,'  about  which  you  ■ 
ask,  was  written  more  than  fifty  years  ago,  for  the 
children  of  a  Sabbath  School  of  a  Leith  church  where 
he  was  assistant.  Some  of  his  best  known  he  wrote 
in  railway  trains ;  others,  when  sitting  by  the  fireside 
at  night." 

Curious  that  until  lately  no  hymns  were  sung  in 
his  own  congregation.  While  they  sang  only  the 
Metrical  Psalms,  Christians  throughout  the  world 
were  singing  his  hymns  with  delight. 


14* 


220 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  HYMNAL. 


3.  Ray  Palmer. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Ray  Palmer  occupies  the  place  of 
honour  among  American  hymnists. 

His  great  hymn  was  written  when  he  was  twenty- 
two  years  of  age,  a  teacher  in  a  ladies'  school,  and  in 
training  at  Yale  for  the  Congregational  ministry. 

He  had  been  reading  a  short  description  in  German, 
in  two  stanzas,  of  a  suppliant  before  the  Cross.  He 
was  struck  by  it,  and  made  an  English  translation. 
He  added  four  stanzas,  telling  what,  the  suppliant  was 
saying,  and  these  stanzas  form  the  present  hymn. 

He  put  the  MS.  in  his  pocket-book  and  forgot  it. 
Two  years  after,  Lowell  Mason,  the  composer,  met 
him  and  asked  him  if  he  had  any  hymns  to  contribute 
to  his  new  hymn  book.    Palmer  produced 

"  My  faith  looks  up  to  Thee, 
Thou  Lamb  of  Calvary, 
Saviour  Divine ;  " 

and  Lowell  Mason  begged  for  a  copy.  Together  they 
went  into  a  store  (in  Boston),  where  the  composer  took 
a  copy  of  the  young  hymn-writer's  lines,  assuring  him 
of  future  fame  by  means  of  them. 

For  this  hymn.  Dr.  Mason  wrote  the  well-known 
tune     Olivet,"  to  which  it  is  wedded. 

Ray  Palmer  said  of  his  production  :  I  gave  form 
to  what  I  felt  by  writing,  with  little  effort,  the  stanzas. 
I  recollect  I  wrote  them  with  very  tender  emotion,  and 
ended  the  last  line  with  tears."  Many  have  sung  it 
as  he  wrote  it. 


221 


He  was  pastor  of  a  church  at  Albany,  N.Y.,  for 
fifteen  years,  and  afterwards  of  a  church  in  New  York 
City.  He  is  described  as  a  wise  teacher,  and  a 
simple-minded  and  devout  Christian.  He  was  a  healthy, 
cheerful,  buoyant  man,  loved  by  everybody  who  knew 
him." 

"  Take  me,  O  my  Father,  take  me  ; 

Take  me,  save  me,  through  Thy  Son  ;  " 

and 

"  Yield  not  to  te^nptation, 
For  yielding  is  sin  ;  " 

i  are  others  taken  from  his  considerable  number  of 
V  hymns. 

4.  Havergal. 

Miss  Frances  Ridley  Havergal  belongs  to  our 
own  generation,  having  died  in  1879,  at  the  age  of 
forty-two. 

The  name  of  her  father,  the  Rev.  W.  H.  Havergal, 
is  well  known  by  his  numerous  chants  and  hymn 
tunes,  as  well  as  by  his  Cathedral  Services  and  Sacred 
Songs.  Of  his  tunes  Evan  "  and  Baca  "  are  widely 
used. 

At  his  vicarage  at  Astley,  in  Worcestershire,  Miss 
Havergal  spent  the  first  nine  years  of  her  Hfe,  when 
her  father  removed  to  Worcester  to  be  Rector  of  St. 
Nicholas,  and  Canon  of  Worcester  Cathedral.  She 
ripened  early,  and  she  died  while  in  her  prime. 

At  three  she  could  read  and  at  seven  she  lisped 


222 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  HYMNAL. 


in  numbers."  Beginning  in  her  school  days,  she 
frequently  went  to  the  Continent.  Although  delicate 
in  health,  she  dehghted  to  climb  the  Swiss  mountains, 
and  revelled  in  the  glory  of  the  white  snow. 

Early  anxious,  she  was  led  to  Christ  by  a  much-loved 
school  companion.  Her  life  was  a  close  walk  with 
God.  At  a  later  stage  she  was  enabled  to  enjoy  what 
is  technically  called  the  Rest  of  Faith,"  and  her  peace 
and  pleasure  in  Christ  were  thereby  multiplied. 

She  acquired  languages  with  great  facility.  She  was 
versed  not  only  in  French  and  German,  but  also  in 
Latin  and  Greek  and  even  Hebrew,  and  could  read 
both  Old  and  New  Testaments  in  the  original. 

She  had  musical  genius ;  could  play  through  Handel 
and  much  of  Mendelssohn  and  Beethoven  without 
notes.  She  also  composed  much  original  work ;  many 
of  her  tunes  being  published  in  her  Songs  of  Grace  and 
Glory  and  Loyal  Responses. 

Four  of  her  tunes  are  well  known,  namely  ^^Hermas," 
to  the  words, 

"  Jesus,  I  will  trust  Thee," 

Epenetus,"     Patmos,"  and  Nymphas." 

Her  memory  was  singularly  powerful.  She  knew  by 
heart  the  whole  of  the  New  Testament,  the  Psalms  and 
Isaiah,  and  in  later  years  committed  to  memory  the 
Minor  Prophets. 

She  was  equally  active  in  Christian  service,  in 
work  in  Bible  Classes,  Young  Women's  Christian 
Associations,  and  numerous  other  Christian  agencies. 


EVANGELICAL  HYMNS. 


223 


Hundreds  consulted  her,  personally  and  by  post,  on 
the  concerns  of  the  soul. 

She  wrote  much,  both  in  prose  and  verse.  Of  her 
little  books  in  prose,  perhaps  the  best  known  are 
Kept  for  the  Mastey's  Use^  Royal  Commandments,  The 
Royal  Invitation,  Swiss  Letters. 

She  does  not  profess  to  meet  intellectual  needs,  or 
answer  the  deepest  questions  of  life.  She  gives  highly 
spiritual  teaching  in  devout  language.  Some  minds 
find  her  too  mystical,  too  unhuman,  too  purely  spiritual ; 
others  are  led  by  her  to  a  more  perfect  trust  and 
a  more  constant  joy  in  Christ, 

When  twenty-four  she  was  contributing  poems  to 
Good  Words,  and  thereafter  she  had  applications  for 
sacred  pieces  from  numerous  editors.  The  best  known 
collections  of  her  poems  are :  The  Ministry  of  Song, 
Under  the  Surface,  and  Under  the  Shadow. 

She  could  write  hymns  only  when  the  inspiration 
came  to  her :  she  could  not  command  it  at  will. 

In  a  letter  she  says :  I  have  not  had  a  single  poem 
come  to  me  for  some  time,  till  last  night,  when  one 
shot  into  my  mind.  All  my  best  have  come  in  that 
way,  Minerva  fashion,  full  grown. 

^'One  minute  I  have  not  the  idea  of  writing  any- 
thing, the  next  /  have  a  poem  ;  it  is  mine ;  I  see  it  all, 
except  laying  out  rhymes  and  metre,  which  is  then 
easy  work." 

Again  she  says:  ''Writing  is  praying  with  me: 
for  I  never  seem  to  write  even  a  verse  by  myself ;  and 
feel  like  a  little  child  writing ;  you  know  how  a  child 


224 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  HYMNAL. 


would  look  up  at  every  sentence  and  say,  '  And  what 
shall  I  say  next  ?  '  That  is  just  what  I  do.  I  ask 
at  every  line  that  He  would  give  me,  not  merely 
thoughts  and  power,  but  also  every  word,  even  the 
very  rhymes.  I  can  never  set  myself  to  write  verse. 
I  believe  my  King  suggests  a  thought,  and  whispers 
me  a  musical  line  or  two,  and  then  I  look  up  and  thank 
Him  delightedly,  and  go  on  with  it.  That  is  how  the 
hymns  and  poems  come." 

For  five  years  the  gift  was  suspended  or  unused  ; 
and  again,  after  a  long  illness,  she  lost  the  power  to 
write  verse,  but  it  was  restored. 

She  was  a  frequent  sufferer,  and  was  exceptionally 
sensitive  to  pain.  But  her  enjoyment  of  Christ's 
presence  made  her,  like  Paul,  glory  in  her  infirmities. 
She  did  not  submit  to,  so  much  as  delight  in,  what  was 
God's  will.  Her  own  description  was  true  of  her 
feeling  throughout :  " '  Thy  will  be  done '  is  not  a 
sighj  but  only  a  songP 

The  sheets  of  MS.  music  for  Songs  of  Grace  and 
Glory  had  been  prepared  at  a  great  cost  of  personal 
labour.  Soon  she  heard  that  the  publishers'  premises 
had  been  burnt  down,  and  the  stereotypes  of  her 
musical  edition  destroyed.  She  sat  down  with  perfect 
acquiescence,  and  did  the  work  over  again.  It  was 
a  six  months'  task,  but  she  took  it  joyfully  as  the 
Divine  Will. 

Her  sufferings  prepared  her  for  writing  many  of 
her  sacred  pieces.  She  wrote  only  what  her  own  life 
or  heart  taught.     Hence  she  is  subjective,  personal, 


EVANGELICAL  HYMNS. 


225 


introspective,  dealing  with  the  experiences  of  the 
heart. 

She  died  at  Mumbles,  near  Swansea.  When  told  of 
the  approach  of  death  she  said,  If  I  am  going,  it  is 
too  good  news  to  be  true." 

On  her  tombstone  is  carved,  at  her  own  request,  her 
favourite  text:  ^^The  blood  of  Jesus  Christ,  His  Son, 
cleanseth  us  from  all  sin." 

The  hymn, 

"  Golden  harps  are  sounding," 

was  written  thus  : 

Visiting  some  friends,  she  walked  to  the  boys' 
schoolroom,  and,  being  very  tired,  she  leaned  against 
the  playground  wall,  while  a  clerical  friend  went  in. 
Returning  in  ten  minutes  he  found  her  scribbling  on 
an  old  envelope ;  and  at  his  request  she  handed  him 
the  hymn,  just  pencilled,  "  Golden  harps  are  sounding." 

"  Tell  it  out  among  the  heathen  that  the  Lord  is  King  !  Tell  it 
out !  Tell  it  out !  " 

was  written  one  day  when  she  was  unable  to  go  to 
church.  She  had  been  following  the  service  in  the 
Prayer  Book,  and  had  read,  '^Tell  it  out  among  the 
heathen  that  the  Lord  is  King."  I  thought,"  she  said, 
"  what  a  splendid  first  line !  and  then  words  and 
music  came  rushing  in  to  me.  There,  it's  all  written 
out :  words,  music,  and  harmonies  complete."  The 
tune  usually  sung  to  it,  "  Epenetus,"  is  her  own,  the 
tune  referred  to. 

15 


226 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  HYMNAL. 


Among  others  well  known  are  : 

"  I  am  trusting  Thee,  Lord  Jesus  ;  " 
"  Jesus,  Master,  \Miose  I  am  ;  " 
"  Jesus,  Master,  Whom  I  serve ;  " 

and 

"  Thy  life  was  given  for  me,'"' 
which  as  written  began 

"  I  gave  My  hfe  for  thee  " — 
the  change  being  made  so  that  the  worshipper  might 
address  Christ,  instead  of  using  words  meant  only 
for  Christ's  Hps. 

This  hymn  first  appeared  in  Good  Words ^  and  was 
WTitten  in  Germany,  when  she  was  only  twenty-two 
years  of  age. 

"  She  had  come  in  weary,  and  had  sat  down  opposite 
a  picture  with  this  motto.  At  once  the  lines  flashed 
upon  her,  and  she  wrote  them  in  pencil  on  a  scrap  of 
paper.  Reading  them  over,  they  did  not  satisfy  her. 
She  tossed  them  into  the  fire,  but  they  fell  out 
untouched.  Sho^wing  them  some  months  after  to  her 
father,  he  encouraged  her  to  preser\-e  them,  and  he 
wrote  the  tune  '  Baca '  especially  for  them." 

Count  von  Zinzendorf,  the  head  of  the  Moravian 
bod}^,  said  he  was  led  to  devote  himself  to  God  by  the 
sight  of  a  picture  in  a  gallery  at  Dusseldorf — a  picture 
of  our  Saviour  crowned  with  thorns,  with  the  writing 
above  it : 

"  All  this  have  I  done  for  Thee  : 
WTiat  does:  Thou  for  Me  ?  ' 


EVANGELICAL  HYMNS. 


227 


Possibly  it  was  some  engraving  of  the  same  painting 
that  Miss  Havergal  saw,  and  that  gave  rise  to  this 
hymn. 

"  Take  my  life  and  let  it  be 
Consecrated,  Lord,  to  Thee," 

was  written  while  on  a  visit  to  a  friend's  house. 
There  were  ten  members  of  the  household,  some  not 
Christians,  for  whom  she  had  long  prayed ;  others 
Christians,  but  not  able  to  rejoice  in  Christ.  She 
prayed  that  God  would  give  her  all  in  the  house.  Her 
prayer  was  answered :  all  were  blessed.  And  con- 
tinuing the  description  of  the  event  in  a  letter  she 
says  :  "  The  last  night  of  my  visit  I  was  too  happy 
to  sleep,  and  passed  most  of  the  night  in  praise  and 
renewal  of  my  own  consecration,  and  these  httle 
couplets  formed  themselves  and  chimed  in  my  heart 
one  after  another,  till  they  finished  with 

"  Ever,  only,  all  for  Thee." 

It  was  her  practice  to  carry  out  literally  the  lines : 

"  Take  my  voice,  and  let  me  sing 
Always,  only,  for  my  King." 

She  sang  sacred  pieces  only.  In  this  and  in  other 

things  she  overstrained  duty.  Yet  we   admire  the 

intensity  of  her  devotion  and  the  thoughtful  self- 
denial  of  her  life. 


XII. 


OXFORD  HYMNS. 
I.  Newman. 

J OHN  HENRY  NEWMAN  has  captivated  the 
imagination  of  rehgious  England  more  perhaps 
than  any  other  living  character.  As  the  leader  of 
the  most  important  religious  movement  of  the  present 
century,  as  a  pure  and  lofty  personality,  as  a  master  of 
liquid  and  transparent  EngHsh,  and  as  a  hymn-writer, 
he  has  received  the  admiring  and  reverent  affection  of 
Protestants  and  Catholics  alike. 

Born  almost  with  the  century  (1801),  a  native  of 
London,  the  son  of  a  banker,  Newman  might  have 
been  seen,  at  the  age  of  nine,  playing  in  Bloomsbury 
with  a  boy  of  five,  little  Benjamin  Disraeli. 

As  a  child  he  was  superstitious,  used  to  cross  him- 
self in  the  dark  (although  in  the  midst  of  Protestant 
surroundings) ;  read  the  Arabian  Nights  and  wished 
they  were  true ;  and  delighted  in  talismans  and  magical 
processes. 

While  in  his  teens  he  studied  Church  history,  and 
learnt  to  regard  the  Pope  as  Antichrist ;  read  Scotfs 


OXFORD  HYMNS. 


229 


Commentary^  and,  as  he  said  many  years  later,  passed 
through  a  great  change  of  heart  as  the  result  of  reading 
it.  Of  this  change,  he  said  onl}^  in  recent  years,  "  I 
am  still  more  certain  than  that  I  have  hands  and  feet." 
To  Scott  "  I  almost  owe  my  soul." 

He  went  to  Oxford  and  won  a  high  place :  met  the 
men — Dr.  Arnold,  Whately,  and  others — who  were  at 
the  time  leading  a  movement  towards  a  more  liberal 
Christianity.  But  the  bent  of  his  mind  was  in  an 
entirely  different  direction. 

He  had  become  a  tutor  at  Oriel,  and  one  of  a  circle 
of  kindred  spirits  consisting  of  Keble,  Pusey,  and 
others.  The  story  of  this  circle — their  influence  on 
each  other,  of  the  work  they  did,  of  the  far-famed 
Tracts  for  the  Times  which  they  issued — is  briefly  told 
in  connection  with  Keble's  hymns. 

Enough  to  say  that  Tract  XC,  a  proclamation  re- 
minding us  as  a  landmark  of  Luther's  Theses^  was 
written  by  Newman ;  that  it  aimed  to  show  that  a 
clergyman  might  remain  in  the  Church  of  England 
while  holding  many  Roman  Catholic  doctrines,  such 
as  the  Mass,  Purgatory,  Invocation  of  the  Saints. 
Tract  XC.  plunged  the  author  and  his  friends  into  a 
hot  controversy,  turned  the  widespread  suspicion  of 
the  movement  into  open  hostility  to  it.  This  tract 
had  such  an  enormous  circulation  that  the  proceeds 
enabled  him  to  purchase  a  valuable  library. 

It  was  condemned  by  the  authorities,  but  he  re- 
fused to  retract.  He  consented,  however,  to  stop  its 
circulation. 


230 


I^OMAXCE  OF  THE  HYMNAL. 


He  had  been  Incumbent  of  St.  Mary's,  Oxford,  and 
held  the  chaplaincy  of  the  Church  at  Littlemore,  and 
from  his  pulpit  preached  sermons  that  left  lasting 
impressions  and  influences  on  many  of  England's 
future  thinkers,  teachers,  and  writers.  He  was  slowly 
drifting  into  Roman  Catholicism,  resigned  his  Oxford 
living  in  1843  and  retired  to  Littlemore,  where  he 
formed  a  Monastic  Brotherhood.  He  had  already  re- 
tracted publicly  all  that  in  earher  years  he  had  said 
against  the  Pope.  The  stories  told  of  the  cures  and 
miracles  which  saints  and  sacred  rehcs  had  wrought  in 
mediaeval  times,  he  accepted  without  question. 

In  1845  he  only  took  the  next  natural  and  logical 
step  when  he  joined  the  Church  of  Rome.  Others 
— Hope  Scott,  Frederick  Faber,  two  Wilberforces — 
followed  him ;  and,  although  there  was  no  secession 
of  large  numbers  at  the  time  such  as  formed  the 
Free  Church  secession  in  Scotland  two  years  earlier, 
Newman  channelled  a  course  into  the  Roman  Church, 
and  the  stream  of  perverts  has  been  flowing  with 
steady  volume  ever  since. 

Since  that  time  Newman's  life  has  been  spent  mainly 
at  Edgbaston,  Birmingham.  He  there  established  a 
school  for  the  sons  of  Roman  Catholic  gentry,  and  at  a 
later  period  became  Head  of  the  Oratory  of  St.  Philip 
Neri.  He  gathered  round  him  a  number  of  priests  of 
kindred  spirit,  among  whom  was  Edward  Caswall,  also 
a  pervert  from  the  Anglican  Church,  the  author  of 

••  Days  and  moments  quickly  flying," 
and  translator  of 


OXFORD  HYMNS. 


231 


"  Jesus,  the  very  thought  of  Thee"  (Bernard  of  Clairvaux), 
"  When  morning  gilds  the  skies  "  (original  unknown), 
"The  sun  is  sinking  fast." 

In  1879  Newman  received  the  cardinal's  hat. 

His  features  are  familiar :  his  keen,  ascetic  face,  the 
furrows  worn  deep  with  thought  and  self-discipline. 
No  one,  whether  Protestant  or  Romanist,  but  feels  the 
charm  of  his  character,  of  his  clear  intellect,  of  his 
simplicity  of  mind  and  earnestness  of  belief. 

It  is  remarkable  how  wide  the  intellectual  separation 
may  be  between  members  of  the  same  family  :  J.  H. 
Newman  a  cardinal,  his  brother,  F.  W.  Newman,  at  the 
opposite  pole  of  belief  (or  unbelief) ;  Hurrell  Froude 
a  Tractarian,  James  A.  Froude  of  undefined  negative 
position ;  W.  R.  Bradlaugh  a  Christian  evangelist, 
Charles  Bradlaugh  an  infidel ;  George  Eliot  a  Positivist, 
and  her  brother  a  Church  of  England  clergyman. 

One  thinks  of  certain  words  of  George  Eliot  in 
Adam  Bede :  "  Family  likeness  has  often  a  deep 
sadness  in  it.  Nature,  that  great  tragic  dramatist, 
knits  us  together  by  bone  and  muscle,  and  divides  us 
by  the  subtle  web  of  our  brain,  blends  yearning  and 
repulsion,  and  ties  us  by  our  heartstrings  to  the  beings 
that  jar  us  at  every  movement.  .  .  .  We  see  eyes — 
ah !  so  like  our  mother's,  averted  from  us  in  cold 
alienation." 

Newman's  great  hymn, 

"  Lead,  kindly  Light,  amid  the  encircling  gloom," 
was  written   before   he  entered    on    the  Tractarian 


232 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  HYMNAL. 


movement,  while  he  was  still  a  young  man,  and  was 
only  preparing  for  his  life-work.  It  expresses  his 
premonition  and  foreboding  of  a  coming  crisis. 

He  had  visited  the  Continent,  and  was  turning  his 
face  homeward,  full  of  fierce  thoughts  and  plans.  But 
I  had  better  quote  his  own  account,  given  in  his 
Apologia  : 

I  began  to  think  I  had  a  mission.  When  we  took 
leave  of  Monsignore  Wiseman,  he  had  courteously 
expressed  a  wish  that  we  might  make  a  second  visit 
to  Rome.  I  said,  with  great  gravity,  '  We  have  a 
work  to  do  in  England.'  I  went  down  at  once 
to  Sicily,  and  the  presentiment  grew  stronger.  I 
struck  into  the  middle  of  the  island,  and  fell  ill  of  a 
fever.  My  servant  thought  that  I  was  djdng,  and 
begged  for  my  last  directions.  I  gave  them  as  he 
wished,  but  I  said,  '  I  shall  not  die.'  I  repeated,  ^  I 
shall  not  die,  for  I  have  not  sinned  against  the  light.' 
I  never  have  been  able  to  make  out  what  I  meant. 

"  I  set  sail  for  Palermo.  Before  starting  I  sat  down 
on  my  bed,  and  began  to  sob  bitterly.  My  servant, 
who  had  acted  as  my  nurse,  asked  what  ailed  me.  I 
could  only  answer,  *  I  have  a  work  to  do  in  England.' 

I  was  aching  to  get  home,  yet  for  want  of  a  vessel 
I  was  kept  at  Palermo  for  three  weeks.  I  began  to 
visit  the  churches,  and  they  calmed  my  impatience, 
though  I  did  not  attend  any  services.  I  knew  nothing 
of  the  Presence  of  the  Blessed  Sacrament  there.  At 
last  I  got  off  in  an  orange  boat  bound  for  Marseilles. 
We  were  becalmed  a  whole  week  in  the  Straits  of 


OXFORD  HYMNS. 


233 


Bonifacio.  Then  it  was  that  I  wrote  the  Hnes,  '  Lead, 
kindly  Light/  which  have  since  become  well  known.  I 
was  writing  verses  the  whole  time  of  my  passage." 

The  original  title  of  this  hymn  was  The  Pillar  of 
Cloud/'  bearing  the  motto,  Unto  the  godly  there 
ariseth  up  light  in  the  darkness."  It  is  the  mirror  of 
the  man, — clear,  intense,  full  of  pure  trust  and  open- 
eyed  earnestness,  as  graceful  in  expression  as  it  is 
lofty  in  conception. 

He  has  since  been  asked  to  explain  the  last  two 
lines  : 

"And  with  the  morn  those  angel  faces  smile, 
Which  I  have  loved  long  since,  and  lost  awhile." 

He  has  replied  that  it  is  no  part  of  a  poet's  duty  to 
be  interpreter  of  the  feelings  of  years  ago. 

A  fourth  verse  has  been  added  by  Bishop  Bicker- 
steth  in  the  Hymnal  Companion  : 

"  Meantime,  along  the  narrow  rugged  way 
Thyself  hast  trod. 
Lead,  Saviour,  lead  me  home  in  childlike  faith, 

Home  to  my  God, 
To  rest  for  ever  after  earthly  strife, 
In  the  calm  light  of  everlasting  life." 

This  addition  is  not  justified  by  any  vital  lack  in  the 
hymn  as  Newman  wrote  it. 

2.  Faber. 

Frederick  W.  Faber  belonged  to  Huguenot  stock, 
one  of  his  forefathers  having  fled  from  France  on  the 


234 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  HYMNAL. 


^  revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes.  At  Calverley,  in 
Yorkshire,  in  his  grandfather's  vicarage,  the  future 
hymn-writer  was  born  in  1814. 

At  school  at  Harrow  his  mind  was  deeply  influ- 
enced by  Dr.  Butler,  and  still  more  powerfully  by 
Dr.  Longley.  He  was  still  young  when  sorrow  after 
sorrow  fell  upon  him.  Within  four  years  he  lost  first 
his  mother  and  then  his  father.  He  was  taken  in 
charge,  however,  by  an  elder  brother. 

From  an  early  period  he  had  displayed  the  poetic 
temperament,  and  while  at  Balliol  College,  Oxford, 
he  wrote  the  University  Prize  Poem,  on  a  congenial 
theme,  The  Knights  of  St.  John."  Here  he  became 
a  Fellow  at  the  age  of  twenty-two,  and  formed  some 
deep  friendships.  Among  these  was  his  intimacy  with 
Sir  Roundell  Palmer  (Lord  Selborne),  who  in  after 
years  was  to  edit  the  Book  of  Praise. 

The  one  great  force  at  Oxford  at  the  time  was  John 
Henry  Newman,  who  was  preaching  at  St.  Mary's, 
and,  with  his  comrades,  issuing  the  Tracts  for  the 
Times.  Faber's  nature  was  one  peculiarly  liable  to 
fall  under  such  an  influence.  He  became  an  ardent 
admirer,  an  acolyth  "  of  him,  to  use  his  own  phrase, 
and  threw  himself  enthusiastically  into  the  Tractarian 
movement. 

Then  after  taking  Orders,  he  spent  four  years  in 
a  tour  through  Europe  along  with  a  pupil.  Under  the 
influence  of  the  old  cathedrals  and  churches,  and 
of  the  Roman  Catholic  Fathers,  whose  works  he 
studied,  he  drifted  nearer  and  nearer  to  Rome. 


OXFORD  HYMNS. 


235 


After  officiating  for  some  time  at  Ambleside,  where 
he  made  the  acquaintance  of  Wordsworth;  he  returned 
to  the  Continent,*  and  twice  he  put  on  his  hat  to  go 
to  CoUegio  Inglese  to  abjure  the  Protestant  faith.  On 
each  occasion  he  was  prevented  by  some  accident ; 
and  this  he  attributed  to  his  guardian  angel,"  whom 
he  fervently  and  constantly  invoked.  His  anxiety  on 
the  subject  was  the  cause  of  physical  infirmities  from 
which  he  suffered  for  the  rest  of  his  life. 

Receiving  from  his  College  the  living  at  Elton,  he 
devoted  himself  with  intense  earnestness  to  the 
reformation  of  his  parish.  He  found  the  people 
intemperate  and  wicked,  and  by  his  personal  influence 
and  preaching  he  led  them  into  habits  of  thrift  and 
decency. 

Here  he  carried  on  highly  Ritualistic  practices. 
Numbers  came  to  him  to  confession  ;  others  did 
penance. 

One  Sunday  evening  in  1845,  he  announced  to  his 
congregation  that  he  must  leave  them,  and  next  day 
he  was  received  into  the  Roman  Catholic  Communion, 
being  re-baptized  under  the  name  of  St.  Wilfrid,  f 

He  was  led  to  take  this  step,  he  tells  us,  thus  : 
"  He  was  called  to  administer  the  Sacrament  of  the 
Lord's  Supper  to  a  sick  parishioner,  when  it  occurred 
to  him,  and  the  conviction  was  irresistible,  that  he 
was  not  a  priest,  and  that  the  Holy  Sacrament  was 


*  Bowden's  Life  and  Letters. 
\  Early  Life,  by  his  brother. 


236 


« 

ROMANCE  OF  THE  HYMNAL. 


nothing  in  his  hands."  *  But  beyond  this  we  know 
Httle  of  his  mental  history  at  this  period. 

A  band  of  eight  young  men,  who  had  received 
instruction  from  him  at  Elton,  followed  him  to  Birming- 
ham, w^here  he  founded  a  community. 

In  four  years  he  removed  to  London  to  take  charge 
of  the  Oratory  of  St.  Philip  Neri  at  Brompton,  where 
he  remained  until  his  death  in  1849. 

Cardinal  Wiseman  wrote  to  him  when  on  his  death- 
bed, referring  to  his  eminent  services  to  the  Church, 
when  he  said  :  This  is  very  kind  ;  but  no  one  knows 
better  than  I  do  that  I  have  no  merits  of  m}'  own, 
and  that  my  only  hope  and  trust  is  in  the  sacrifice 
of  my  Saviour." 

He  was  the  author  of  numerous  writings,  but  all 
are  eclipsed  by  the  hymns  he  left.  The  latest 
collection  contained  one  hundred  and  fifty,  corre- 
sponding to  the  number  of  the  Psalms. 

He  tells  us  that  they  were  written  because  there 
was  no  collection  of  hymns  suitable  for  use  in  Roman 
Catholic  churches  and  houses.  They  were  meant 
to  take  that  place  among  Romanists  which  the 
hymns  of  Cowper,  Newton,  and  Wesley  took  among 
Protestants.  They  were  not  written  mainly  to  be 
sung,  but,  as  he  tells  us  in  the  preface,  for  private 
spiritual  reading.  The  majority  of  them  are  not 
suitable  for  public  praise.  They  are  poetic  meditations, 
reflections ;  or  they  apostrophize  saints  and  angels. 


Early  Life. 


OXFORD  HYMNS. 


237 


Curious  that  Faber  had  no  musical  faculty,  and  yet 
wrote  hymns  such  as  : 

"  Hark,  hark,  my  soul,  angelic  songs  are  swelling," 

which  is  full  of  music. 

His  hymns  are  divided  into  different  sections, 
according  to  the  subject  treated.  They  cover  the 
whole  round  of  rehgious  thought,  dealing  with  God 
and  His  adorable  character,  the  Trinity,  the  human 
life  of  our  Lord  at  its  different  stages,  the  soul's  life, 
and  the  Sacraments  ;  and  many  more  are  devoted 
to  the  Virgin  Mother,  to  St.  Joseph,  St.  Michael,  St. 
Raphael,  etc.,  and  to  the  Angels. 

The  majority,  though  not  all,  of  his  pieces  introduce 
some  Romanist  idea.  It  is  rare  that  any  hymn  of  his 
can  be  adopted,  in  Protestant  worship,  entire  and  as 
it  stands. 

Some  seven  or  eight  of  Faber's  hymns  are  to  be 
found  in  most  collections,  such  as 

"  My  God,  how  wonderful  Thou  art ;  " 
"  O  come  and  mourn  with  me  awhile  ;  " 

and 

"  O  Paradise  !  O  Paradise  !  " 

Instead  of 

"  Dear  Jesus,  ever  at  Thy  side," 

Faber  wrote  "  Dear  Angel,"  addressing  it  to  his 
guardian  angel.    His  also  is 

"  Sweet  Saviour,  bless  us  ere  we  go." 
Faber's  hymns  are  highly  imaginative  and  emotional 


238  ROMANCE  OF  THE  HYMNAL, 

They  are  not  sober  expressions  of  worship,  but 
rapturous  flights — as  in  "  Angels,  sing  on,  your  faithful 
watches  keeping." 

In  many  instances  his  sentiments  are  too  amorous, 
too  sensuous,  too  gross,  as  in  a  realistic  verse  of 
"  O  come  and  mourn  with  me  awhile : " 

"  Come,  take  thy  stand  beneath  the  Cross, 
And  let  the  Blood  from  out  that  Side 
Fall  gently  on  thee  drop  by  drop  ; 
Jesus,  our  Love,  is  crucified." 

Much  that  he  says  is  neither  sober  sense  nor  scrip- 
tural truth.  Yet  his  hymns  help  to  expand  the  soul 
and  fire  imagination.  We  need  all  kinds,  and  his 
with  the  rest. 

3.  Keble. 

John  Keble  did  for  the  Tractarian  movement,  fifty 
years  ago,  what  Charles  Wesley  did  for  the  EvangeHcal 
Revival  last  century — sang  it  into  the  hearts  of  the 
people. 

He  had  taken  his  degree  at  Oxford,  had  shown 
himself  a  brilliant  scholar,  and  had  received  the  honour 
of  being  appointed  Examiner  for  three  years ;  and  at 
a  later  period  became  Professor  of  Poetry  at  his  own 
University,  and,  after  holding  several  curacies,  became 
Rector  of  Hursley,  near  Winchester.  Here  he  re- 
mained until  his  death  in  1866. 

He  took  a  large  share  in  originating  the  Anglo- 
Catholic,  or  Tractarian,  movement.     He  had  known 


OXFORD  HYMNS. 


239 


the  leaders  of  the  Liberal  Church  movement,  Arnold, 
Whately,  and  others ;  but  their  influence  over  him  had 
been  slight. 

Hurrell  Froude,  brother  of  James  A.  Froude,  intro- 
duced him  to  Newman.  These  three  were  joined  by 
Pusey.  Froude  was  gifted,  brilliant,  dashing,  but  still 
immature ;  he  died  while  still  a  young  man.  Keble 
was  a  man  of  beautiful  character,  yet  unconsciously 
narrow,  not  only  devoted  to  the  Church  of  England, 
but  unable  to  see  that  there  was  any  other  Church. 
He  had  always  been  a  High  Anglo-Catholic. 

He  did  much  to  encourage  Newman.  The  first 
Sunday  after  Newman's  return  from  the  Mediterranean, 
so  ''full  of  fierce  thoughts  and  plans,"  Keble  preached  the 
famous  "  Assize  Sermon  "  on  National  Apostasy,  which 
has  been  regarded  by  all  as  the  first  decided  step 
in  the  movement.  It  was  the  fan  applied  to  the 
smouldering  fire  in  Newman  and  the  rest.  Soon  they 
issued  the  Tracts  for  the  Times,  of  which  Keble  wrote 
eight. 

In  course  of  a  few  years  Keble  and  Newman  parted ; 
the  latter  to  join  the  Church  of  Rome,  the  former 
to  remain  in  the  Anglican  Church  and  follow  the 
via  media,  the  "  middle  path "  of  Anglo-Catholic 
Ritualism. 

But  apart  from  his  famous  "Assize  Sermon,"  which 
flung  down  the  gauntlet,  and  apart  also  from  the 
influence  he  exerted  on  his  comrades,  his  great  con- 
tribution to  the  movement  was  his  Christian  Year. 

The  Christian  Year  contains  sacred  lyrics  for  each 


240 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  HYMNAL. 


Sunday  and  Holy  Day  in  the  year.  It  appeared  in 
1827,  and  the  author  gave  consent  to  its  pubHcation 
only  after  great  pressure  from  friends.  Arnold  said 
of  them :  Nothing  equal  to  them  exists  in  our 
language."  Coleridge  and  Whately  also  urged  their 
publication.  When  they  did  appear  they  bore  no 
author's  name.  They  are  the  result  of  long  labour, 
and  as  much  polishing  and  revision  as  Gray  put  upon 
the  Elegy.  They  are  classical  in  their  style,  and  form 
a  household  volume  in  every  English-speaking  country 
to-day.  The  ninetieth  edition  was  revised  by  the 
author.  In  twenty-five  years  one  hundred  and  eight 
thousand  copies  were  issued.  In  1873,  when  the  copy- 
right expired — forty-six  years  after  its  appearance — 
three  hundred  and  five  thousand  five  hundred  copies 
had  been  sold.  And  since  then  the  circulation  of  cheap 
issues  has  been  enormous. 

"  It  is  a  book,"  says  Bishop  Barry,  "  which  leads 
the  soul  up  to  God,  not  through  one  but  through  all 
of  the  various  faculties  which  He  has  implanted 
in  it." 


XIII. 


HYMNS  OF  FOUR  BROAD  CHURCH  DEANS. 

I.  Dean  Stanley. 
]7R0M  Dean  Stanley's  biography  of  Dr.  Arnold 


^  every  one  knows  how  as  a  boy  at  Rugby  he 
came  under  the  spell  of  its  model  head-master. 

After  a  brilHant  career  at  Oxford  (BalHol)  he  became 
in  succession  a  Canon  of  Canterbury  Cathedral, 
Professor  of  Ecclesiastical  History  at  Oxford,  and 
finally  Dean  of  Westminster. 

There  is  a  small  MS.  volume,  says  his  successor, 
Dean  Bradley,  written  in  a  boyish  but,  strange  as  it 
may  appear  to  those  who  knew  him  later,  a  singularly 
clear  hand.  On  the  title-page  are  inscribed  the  words : 
Poetical  Works  of  A.  P.  Stanley,  Vol.  II.  "  Under- 
neath is  a  drawing,  his  own  handiwork,  of  Neptune 
in  his  chariot  with  Amphitrite,  and  the  sea-nymphs 
sporting  around."  Some  of  his  subjects  are  curious  : 
Owls,    Humming   Birds,    Superstition,  Forgiveness, 


He  was  only  ten  or  eleven  years  of  age  when  he 
wrote  the  contents  of  this  "Vol.  II."    They  reveal 


Death. 


242 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  HYMNAL. 


greater  originality  than  his  Rugby  pieces.  His  Uttle 
study  was  soon  named    The  Poet's  Corner." 

He  made  the  acquaintance  of  many  lands  and  many 
men,  travelled  in  Sinai  and  Palestine,  and  accompanied 
the  Prince  of  Wales  in  his  visit  to  Egypt  and  the 
Holy  Land. 

His  broad  sympathies,  his  scholarly  tastes,  his  gentle 
and  lovable  character,  won  the  homage  of  sceptic  and 
believer  alike. 

"  He  is  gone — a  cloud  of  light 
Has  received  Him  from  our  sight " — 

which,  as  written,  ran 

"  He  is  gone  beyond  the  skies  " — 
a  noble  Ascension  Hymn,  was  composed  by  Dean 
Stanley  for  the  use  of  a  private  family,   and  first 
appeared  in  Macmillafi s  Magazine,  where  several  of 
his  hymns  saw  the  light. 

2.  Dean  Milman. 

Milman's  best  known  hymns  appeared  in  Bishop 
Heber's  hymn-book.  They  are :  the  majestic  Palm 
Sunday  hymn, 

"  Ride  on,  ride  on  in  majesty  ;  " 

the  hymn  written  for  the  lesson  on  the  Widow  of 
Nain — and  hence  the  reference  to  ''Jesus,  Son  of 
Mary 

"  When  our  heads  are  bowed  with  woe ;  " 

and 

"  O  help  us,  Lord,  each  hour  of  need." 


HYMNS  OF  FOUR  BROAD  CHURCH  DEANS.  243 


It  was  when  Professor  of  Poetry  at  Oxford  that  he 
wrote  his  best  hymns,  and  that  he  composed  his  great 
poem,  The  Fall  of  Jerusalem, 

As  a  Broad  Churchman,  as  the  historian  of  the  Jews, 
etc.,  as  Dean  of  St.  Paul's,  but  chiefly  as  a  hymn- 
writer,  his  name  will  long  remain  honoured. 

3.  Dean  Alford. 

Dean  Alford  is  known  to  scholars  by  his  Greek 
Testament^  but  to  the  Christian  Church  at  large  as  the 
writer  of  the  jubilant  and  stirring  Harvest  Hymn  : 

"  Come,  ye  thankful  people,  come. 
Raise  the  song  of  Harvest-home ;  " 

of  the  Christian  battle-song  : 

"  '  Forward  '  be  our  watchword, 
Steps  and  voices  joined," 

the  words  and  music  of  which  were  composed  specially 
for  a    Festival "  of  parochial  choirs  in  the  diocese  of 
Canterbury. 
His  also  is 

"  Ten  thousand  times  ten  thousand, 
111  sparkling  raiment  bright," 

which  was  sung  at  the  churchyard  at  the  Dean's 
funeral.    The  inscription  carved  on  his  tomb  ran  : 

"  Deversorium  viatoris  proficientis 

HiEROSOLYMAM  "  

The  inn  of  a  pilgrim  travelling  to  Jerusalem^ 
Many  of  his  hymns  were  composed  in  the  course  of 


244 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  HYMNAL. 


his  solitary  walks  around  Canterbury.  The  tunes 
were  generally  selected,  and  some  indeed  composed,  at 
the  weekly  meeting  on  Sunday  evenings  between  him- 
self and  his  coadjutor.  Rev.  R.  Hake.  His  first  object 
was  to  initiate  and  develop  Congregational  singing  in 
his  (Canterbury)  Cathedral. 

In  his  Year  of  Praise^  a  collection  of  hymns  suited 
to  the  Church  Year,  he  included  several  of  his  own. 

4.  Dean  Plumptre. 

The  Dean  of  Wells  wrote  his  fine  Hospital  Hymn, 

"  Thine  arm,  O  Lord,  in  days  of  old, 
Was  strong  to  heal  and  save," 

for  the  chapel  of  King's  College  Hospital,  London. 
Even  finer  is  his 

"  O  Light  Whose  beams  illumine  all 

From  tvvihght  dawn  to  perfect  day." 

The  author  of  The  Spirits  in  Prison  is  a  Broad 
Churchman,  a  liberal-minded  expositor,  as  well  as  a 
reputable  poet. 


XIV. 


HYMNS  OF  THREE  BISHOPS. 
I.  Bishop  Bickersteth. 

DR.    E.    H.    BICKERSTETH,  for   many  years 
the  Incumbent  of  Christ  Church,  Hampstead, 
became  Bishop  of  Exeter  in  1885. 

His  hymns  he  collected  and  published  under  the 
title  From  Year  to  Year.  His  most  ambitious  poetical 
effort  is  his  Yesterday^  To-day^  and  Forever. 

As  compiler  of  the  Hymnal  Companion,  he  had  the 
opportunity — and  unfortunately  he  seized  it — of  adding 
a  fourth  verse  to  Newman's  "  Lead,  kindly  Light." 
It  was  both  a  needless  and  a  presumptuous  addition, 
paralleled  only  by  the  Rev.  A.  T.  Russell's  addition  of 
an  Evangelical  verse  to  "  Nearer,  my  God,  to  Thee." 

Several  of  Bickersteth's  hymns  are  of  the  first 
order,  strong,  yet  refined  in  tone  and  taste ;  for 
example  : 

"  O  God,  the  Rock  of  Ages, 
Who  evermore  hast  been," 

founded  on  the  Psalm  of  Moses  (xc.) ;  and 

Peace,  perfect  peace,  in  this  dark  world  of  sin  ?  " 


246 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  HYMNAL. 


In  their  collected  form,  his  hymns  have  been 
assigned  to  their  proper  Sundays  in  the  Church  Year. 
Two  other  hymn-writers  followed  the  same  method, 
Bishop  Wordsworth  and  Dean  Alford. 

2.  Bishop  Wordsworth. 

A  nephew  of  the  great  Lake  Poet,  Dr.  C.  Words- 
worth, late  Bishop  of  Lincoln  (not  of  St.  Andrews), 
inherited  some  of  his  uncle's  poetical  gifts.  Some  of 
our  richest  hymns  are  from  his  hand,  such  as  : 

"  O  Lord  of  heaven,  and  earth,  and  sea, 
To  Thee  all  praise  and  glory  be  ; 
How  shall  we  show  our  love  to  Thee, 
Who  givest  all  ?  " 

which  was  written  as  an  Offertory  Hymn. 

This  is  one  of  a  hundred  and  twenty-seven  hymns 
which  he  published  under  the  title  of  The  Holy 
Year,  being  sacred  songs  suitable  for  the  Sundays 
and  Holy  Days  of  the  Church  Year.  Under  the 
text :  This  is  the  day  which  the  Lord  hath  made : 
we  will  rejoice  and  be  glad  in  it,"  appeared  the 
well-loved 

"  O  Day  of  rest  and  gladness  ! 
O  Day  of  joy  and  light ! " 

In  a  more  stirring  strain  he  sings 

"  See  the  Conqueror  mounts  in  triumph, 
See  the  King  in  royal  state." 

Once   Head-master  at  Harrow,  finally  Bishop  of 


HYMNS         THREE  BISHOPS. 


247 


Lincoln,  he  will  be  longest  remembered  by  his  Com- 
mentary on  the  Old  Testament  and  by  his  hymns. 

3.  Bishop  Walsham  How. 

The   Bishop   who   won    golden    opinions  in  his 

diocese  in  the  East  End  of  London,  now  the  Bishop 

of  Wakefield,  has  also  endeared  himself  to  the 
Christian  Church  by  such  hymns  as 

"  For  all  the  saints  who  from  their  labours  rest, 
Who  Thee  by  faith  before  the  world  confessed  ; " 

and 

"  We  give  Thee  but  Thine  own,  . 
Whate'er  the  gift  may  be." 

^^One  day  he  is  preaching  in  a  theatre  to  the 
working  classes  :  another  day  he  is  preaching  before 
the  British  Association.  And  such  is  the  fulness  of 
his  mind,  the  richness  of  his  culture,  and  the  wide 
range  of  his  sympathies  that  he  never  fails  to  put 
himself  in  accord  with  his  hearers ! " 


XV. 


HYMNS  OF  THREE  POET-VICARS. 

I.  MONSELL. 

AN    Irishman   by   birth,  the   Rev.  Dr.  J.  S.  B. 
Monsell  spent  most  of  his  ministry  as  Vicar 
of  Egham,  and  again  of  Guildford  in  Surrey. 

"  Many  a  time,"  says  Edwin  Hodder,  have  I 
listened  to  the  words  of  life  from  his  Hps.  Standing 
there  in  the  pulpit,  with  a  small  Bible  in  his  hand, 
unencumbered  with  notes  or  sermon  book,  the 
preacher  has  held  his  audience  spellbound,  while  in 
plain,  simple  language,  yet  full  of  tender  poetic 
thought,  he  has  told  them  the  sweet  story  of  eternal 
love." 

His  hymns  are  finding  their  way  in  larger  numbers 
into  the  later  hymnals.    His  best  are : 

"  Worship  the  Lord  in  the  beauty  of  holiness  ;  " 

"  Lord  of  the  living  harvest, 

That  whitens  o'er  the  plain  ;  " 

and 

"  Rest  of  the  weary,  Joy  of  the  sad.'" 
It  may  be  interesting  to  readers  to  meet  with  a 


HYMNS  OF  THREE  POET-VICARS. 


249 


piece,  not  adapted  for  public  praise,  but  well  adapted 
for  nourishing  the  heart's  life : 

"  I  asked  for  grace  to  lift  me  high 

Above  the  world's  depressing  cares. 
God  sent  me  sorrows.    With  a  sigh 
I  said,  •  He  has  not  heard  my  prayers.' 

I  asked  for  light  that  I  might  see 

My  path  along  life's  thorny  road  ; 
But  clouds  and  darkness  shadowed  me 

When  I  expected  hght  from  God. 

"  I  asked  for  peace  that  I  might  rest, 
And  think  my  sacred  duties  o'er ; 
When  lo  !  such  horrors  filled  my  breast 
As  I  had  never  felt  before. 

"  '  And  oh  ! '  I  cried,  '  can  this  be  prayer, 

Whose  plaints  the  steadfast  mountains  move  ; 
Can  this  be  heaven's  prevailing  care  ? 
And  oh  !  my  God,  is  this  Thy  love  ? ' 

"  But  soon  I  found  that  sorrow,  worn 
As  duty's  garment,  strength  supplies ; 
And  out  of  darkness,  meekly  borne, 
Unto  the  righteous  light  doth  rise. 

"And  soon  I  found  that  fears,  which  stirr'd 
My  startled  soul  God's  will  to  do, 
On  me  more  real  peace  conferr'd 
Than  in  life's  calm  I  ever  knew." 


2.  Ellerton. 

The  two  best  of  the  hymns  of  the  Rev.  John 
Ellerton,  M.A.,  are  evening  meditations  : 

"  Saviour,  again  to  Thy  dear  name  we  raise 
With  one  accord  our  parting  hymn  of  praise  ;  " 


250 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  HYMNAL. 


and 

The  day  Thou  gavest,  Lord,  is  ended  ; 
The  darkness  falls  at  Thy  behest." 

Several  others  have  eventide  themes  : 
'*  When  the  day  of  toil  is  done ; " 
"  Now  the  labourer's  task  is  o'er  ;  " 
"  Our  day  of  praise  is  done." 

While  a  curate  at  Brighton,  he  had  written  some 
children's  hymns  for  the  use  of  his  ov^n  Sunday 
schools  and  classes. 

He  became  domestic  chaplain  to  Lord  Crewe, 
and  took  an  active  interest  in  the  intellectual  and 
social  welfare  of  the  artizans  at  Crewe.  For  some 
years  he  was  Vice-president  of  the  Mechanics'  Insti- 
tute, and  himself  taught  several  classes. 

He  succeeded  in  organizing  one  of  the  first 
choral  associations  in  the  Midlands,  which  has  for 
many  years  met  for  its  annual  rehearsal  at  Nantwich. 

"  Saviour,  again  to  Thy  dear  name  we  raise," 
is  one  of  several  hymns  that  were  specially  written 
for  the  Annual  Festival  of  the  Crewe  Parish  Choir. 
He  is  now  Rector  of  White  Roothing,  Essex. 

3.  Stone. 

The  name  of  the  author  of  two  of  our  most 
precious  hymns, 

"  The  Church's  one  foundation 
Is  Jesus  Christ  her  Lord  ; " 


HYMNS  OF  THREE  POET-VICARS.  251 


and 

"Weary  of  earth  and  laden  with  my  sin, 
I  look  at  heaven  and  long  to  enter  in," 

will  always  be  associated  with  Christian  work  in 
one  of  London's  East  End  parishes. 

When  the  father  of  the  Rev.  S.  J.  Stone,  M.A., 
went  to  Haggerston,  there  was  neither  church,  school, 
nor  vicarage.  Where  now  stands  the  hymn-writer's 
church  was  the  receptacle  of  the  rubbish  of  the 
neighbourhood.  The  total  endowment  of  the  parish 
brought  in  thirteen  pounds  per  annum.  But  work  of 
strong  faith  and  unflagging  self-devotion  by  father 
and  son  has  made  St.  Paul's,  Haggerston,  a  large 
and  rich  harvest-field. 

The  author  of  the  above  hymns  laboured  for 
eight  years  at  Windsor  before  undertaking  the 
burden  of  his  father's  East  End  parish. 

His  hymns  were  written,  a  series  of  twelve,  on 
the  topics  of  the  Apostles'  Creed.  believe  in  the 

Holy  Catholic  Church"  gave  Mr.  Stone  the  theme  of 
"The  Church's  one  foundation  ;  " 

"  /  believe  in  the  Forgiveness  of  Sins "  inspired 
the  lines,  so  full  of  humility  mastered  by  faith  in 
the  Divine  Pity : 

"Weary  of  earth  and  laden  with  my  sin." 

The  former  was  sung  in  connection  with  a  Pan- 
AngHcan  Synod,  by  the  whole  procession  of  Church 
dignitaries  and  clergy  as  they  entered  St.  Paul's 
Cathedral  for  worship. 


252 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  HYMNAL. 


Another  hymn  by  the  same  author, 

"  O  Jesus  Christ,  the  righteous  !  " 

was  selected  by  Her  Majesty  the  Queen,  out  of  a 
large  number  of  hymns  specially  written,  to  be  sung 
at  the  Public  Thanksgiving  for  the  recovery  of  the 
Prince  of  Wales. 

He  may  be  classed  as  a  High  Churchman,  but  he 
is  first  of  all,  and  in  all  his  hymns,  evangelical  to 
the  core. 


XVI. 


HYMNS  OF  AMERICAN  POETS. 
I.  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes. 

IT  is  curious — unfortunately  a  surprise — to  find  the 
humorist  of  the  Breakfast  Table  books  also  the 
author  of  hymns  used  in  the  solemn  worship  of  God. 
The  man  who  wrote  The  Wonderful  One  Hoss  Shay 
also  wrote  these  two  deeply-devout  hymns  : 

"  Lord  of  all  being,  throned  afar, 
Thy  glory  flames  from  sun  and  star ; 
Centre  and  soul  of  every  sphere, 
Yet  to  each  loving  heart  how  near  ! 

"  Our  midnight  is  Thy  smile  withdrawn, 
Our  noontide  is  Thy  gracious  dawn  ; 
Our  rainbow  arch  Thy  mercy's  sign  ; 
All,  save  the  clouds  of  sin,  are  Thine. 

Grant  us  Thy  truth  to  make  us  free, 
And  kindly  hearts  that  burn  for  Thee, 
Till  all  Thy  living  altars  claim 
One  holy  Hght,  one  heavenly  flame," 

which  appeared  in  the  Professor  at  the  Breakfast  Table ; 
and 


254 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  HYMNAL. 


*'  O  Love  Divine,  that  stooped  to  share 
Our  sharpest  pang,  our  bitterest  tear, 
On  Thee  we  cast  each  earthborn  care ; 
"We  smile  at  pain  when  Thou  art  near." 

Both  are  exquisite  both  as  songs  of  sacred  praise  and 
as  works  of  art. 

His  versatihty  is  remarkable  :  professor  of  anatomy, 
noveHst,  essayist,  poet,  wit,  humorist,  and  the  best  of 
talkers.  His  swift  and  half-serious,  half-humorous 
analysis  of  character,  his  wise  wit,  his  bristling,  spark- 
ling points,  all  captivate  the  reader.  In  the  pages  of 
his  greatest  contributions  to  literature,  The  Autocrat ^ 
The  Poet,  and  The  Professor^  at  the  Breakfast  Table, 
we  are  familiar  with  the  figures  of  the  Young  Man 
called  John,"  Little  Boston,  the  Schoolmistress,  Iris, 
etc.    These  characters  live,  and  amuse  and  instruct  us. 

His  Elsie  Venner  is  a  study,  in  novel  form,  of  the 
law  of  heredity — too  full  of  points  and  side  reflections 
to  be  popular  in  small  lending  libraries,  but  a  mine  to 
the  thoughtful. 

His  books  are  rich  in  autobiography,  in  reminiscences 
of  his  early  years — for  example,  of  ''his  fears  and 
fancies  and  superstitions  ;  his  first  defeat  in  the  moral 
battle  of  life ;  his  first  love  ;  his  first  experience  of 
death ;  the  hush  at  sundown  on  Saturday  evenings, 
when  the  crickets  and  the  frogs  alone  broke  the  still- 
ness of  the  Puritan  Sabbath." 

After  the  usual  curriculum  he  left  Harvard, 

"  Armed  with  his  dainty,  ribbon-tied  degree, 
Pleased  and  yet  pensive,  Exite  and  A.B." 


HYMNS  OF  AMERICAN  POETS. 


25s 


He  studied  law,  but  only  for  a  short  time.   The  medical 

profession  became  his  choice,  and  he  perfected  his 
studies  in  Paris,  where,  he  thanks  God,  he  assisted  at 
no  scientific  cruelties ; "  where  he  saw  the  little  girl  in 
her  cot  in  the  hospital,  the  story  of  whose  cruel  accident 
and  thrushlike  voice  thrill  the  reader  with  emotion 
still,  as  the  poor  sufferer  thrilled  the  young  doctor 
then. 

Dr.  Holmes  had  experience  of  Puritanic  training,  such 
as  has  made  him  give  many  a  cut "  at  Calvinistic  self- 
complacency.  He  has  tolerance  for  most  people,  but 
not  for  the  ''moral  bully,"  who  with 

"...  his  acrid  words, 
Turns  the  sweet  milk  of  kindness  into  curds." 

But  he  is  penetrated  by  a  deep  religious  feeling,  dis- 
played in  his  hymns.  He  can  still  sing  his  Hymn  of 
Trust  in  spite  of  Science,  of  which  he  is  a  master.  He 
''  believes  more  than  some  and  less  than  others,"  and 
likes  ''  those  who  believe  more,  better  than  those  who 
believe  less." 

2.  Whittier. 

The  Quaker  Poet  of  America,  J.  G.  Whittier,  received 
his  earliest  inspirations  from  the  songs  of  Burns,  recited 
to  him  by  a  wandering  Scotchman.  This  Scotch  pack- 
man, says  Whittier,  ''  brought  with  him  pins,  needles, 
tape  and  cotton- thread  for  my  mother  ;  jack-knives, 
razors,  and  soap  for  my  father  ;  and  verses  of  his  own 
composing,  coarsely  printed  and  illustrated  with  rude 


256 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  HYMNAL. 


woodcuts,  for  the  delectation  of  the  young  branches  of 
the  family." 

With  his  rich  voice  he  threw  young  Whittier  into 
raptures  by  his  singing  of  Bonnie  Doon,"  Highland 
Mary,"  and  Auld  Lang  Syne."  His  schoolmaster  lent 
him  his  Burns.  This  was  about  the  first  poetry  I  had 
ever  read  (with  the  exception  of  that  of  the  Bible,  of 
which  I  had  been  a  close  student),  and  they  had  a  lasting 
influence  upon  me.  I  began  to  make  rhymes  myself, 
and  to  imagine  stories  and  adventures." 

After  a  time  he  sent  a  piece  to  a  neighbouring  paper, 
the  Free  Press,  of  which  William  Lloyd  Garrison  was 
the  editor. 

He  was  at  work  in  the  fields  of  his  father's  farm  when 
he  learned  the  fate  of  his  first  MS.  He  was  assisting 
in  repairing  fences,  when  ''the  news-carrier  stopped  his 
horses,  and,  opening  his  bag,  drew  out  a  paper  and 
threw  it  across  to  the  lad,  who,  eagerly  opening  it, 
saw  to  his  delight  his  own  production  in  print  in 
the  "Poet's  Corner." 

"  Some  time  after,  in  the  summer,  a  visitor  arrived  in 
a  carriage,  and  inquired  for  Whittier.  He  was  hoeing 
in  his  fathers  cornfield,  and  immediately  leaving  his 
work  he  hurried  in  by  the  back  door,  and  hastily 
making  himself  presentable  by  putting  on  shoes,  waist- 
coat and  coat,  he  appeared  before  Mr.  Garrison.  The 
young  editor  had  come  over  to  speak  a  few  generous 
words  to  the  3'oung  poet,  and  to  advise  him  as  to  his 
future." 

His   father   was    next    interviewed,   and  pressed 


HYMNS  OF  AMERICAN  POETS. 


257 


earnestly  to  provide  education  for  a  boy  with  such  gifts. 
It  seemed  to  the  farmer  that  the  editor  was  "  putting 
notions "  into  the  lad's  head.  But  Garrison's  words 
woke  ambition  in  both  father  and  son,  and  ere  long  it 
was  decided  that  the  young  poet  should  go  to  school. 

But  there  was  no  spare  money  for  education.  The 
way  opened,  however.  friendly  labourer  on  his 

father's  farm,  who  used  to  spend  his  winter  time  in 
making  ladies'  shoes,  offered  to  teach  the  youth  his 
craft,  which  offer  was  eagerly  accepted,  and  the  follow- 
ing season  Whittier  earned  money  enough  at  the  shoe- 
making  to  pay  for  a  suit  of  clothes  and  his  board  and 
tuition  for  six  months."  So  began  his  training  for  a 
literary  life. 

His  home  and  surroundings  were  Puritan.  Uncle 
TonHs  Cabin  appeared  in  the  Era^  an  anti-slavery 
journal,  to  which  he  also  became  a  frequent  contributor. 
Here  were  published  many  of  his  ringing  appeals  on 
behalf  of  emancipation.  Every  one  knows,  or  ought  to 
know,  his  ode  of  triumph,  his  '^Laus  Deo,"  on  hearing 
the  bells  ring  out  upon  the  abolition  of  ^slavery  : 

"  It  is  done  ! 
Clang  of  bell  and  roar  of  gun 

Send  the  tidings  up  and  down.  ^ 
How  the  belfries  rock  and  reel ! 
How  the  great  guns,  peal  on  peal, 

Fling  the  joy  from  town  to  town." 

On  reaching  threescore  years  and  ten,  in  1877,  ^ 
banquet  of  America's  greatest  citizens  was  given  to  him 
by  the  pubhshers  of  the  Atlantic  Monthly.  Emerson, 

17 


258 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  HYMNAL. 


Longfellow,  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes,  were  present, 
and  Mark  Twain,  Mrs.  Stowe,  and  others  joined  in  the 
celebration. 

His  hymns  deserve  a  place  in  every  hymnal,  and 
some  are  admitted  into  the  more  recent  collections. 
These  are  specimen  verses  : 

"  Immortal  Love,  for  ever  full. 
For  ever  flowing  free, 
For  ever  shared,  for  ever  whole, 
A  never  ebbing  sea. 

"  Our  Friend,  our  Brother  and  our  Lord, 
WTiat  may  Thy  ser%-ice  be  ? 
Xor  name,  nor  form,  nor  ritual  word. 
But  simply  following  Thee.  " 


"  Dear  Lord  and  Father  of  mankind, 

Forgive  our  feverish  ways  I 
Reclothe  us  in  our  rightful  mind : 
In  purer  lives  Thy  ser\-ice  find, 

In  deeper  reverence,  praise." 

The  language  is  not  drawn  from  the  usual  vocabulary 
of  hymns,  but  do  not  our  h3'mns  need  to  be  re-clothed 

in  fresh  phraseology  ? 

3.  Bryant. 

William  Cullen  Bryant,  one  of  America's  greatest 
poets,  is  the  author  also  of  some  of  America's  most 
pure  and  finished  hyTnns.  A  few  of  these  have  happily 
been  included  in  our  more  recent  Hymnals.  One  is — 
all  are — worth  quoting  in  full,  and  specialh'  apposite 


HYMNS  OF  AMERICAN  POETS. 


259 


to  the  great  problems  of  social  life  now  facing  tne 
Christian  churches : 

"Look  from  Thy  sphere  of  endless  day, 
O  God  of  mercy  and  of  might ; 
In  pity  look  on  those  who  stray 
Benighted  in  this  land  of  Hght." 

He  is  probably  more  extensively  known  by  Thana- 
topsis  than  by  any  other  of  his  numerous  poems ;  and 
it  was  written  when  he  was  in  his  eighteenth  or 
nineteenth  year,  although  not  pubHshed  till  he  was 
twenty-one  years  of  age.  Strange  that  one  so  young 
should  take  Death  as  his  theme : 

"  All  that  tread 
The  globe  are  but  a  handful  to  the  tribes 
That  slumber  in  its  bosom." 

Bryant  has  been  in  succession  editor,  journalist,  and 
poet.  For  many  years  he  conducted  the  New  York 
Evening  Posty  an  organ  of  the  Democrats.  Among  his 
literary  associates  were  Dana,  Bancroft,  and  Willis. 

The  story  of  his  baptism  when  over  sixty  has  a 
simple  beauty  which  reflects  the  man. 

He  had  gone  to  Italy  to  spend  the  winter  of  1858, 
and  had  settled  down  near  Naples.  There  he  met  an 
old  acquaintance,  the  Rev.  R.  C.  Waterston,  of  Boston. 
In  their  rambles  round  Naples  they  were  frequently 
together. 

One  day,  says  Curtis,  his  biographer,  "after  a 
long  walk  with  his  friend  on  the  Bay  of  Naples,  he 
spoke  with  softened  heart  of  the  new  beauty  that  he 


26o 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  HYMNAL. 


felt  in  the  old  truth,  and  proposed  to  his  friend  to 
baptize  him. 

"  With  prayer,  and  hymn,  and  spiritual  meditation, 
a  little  company  of  seven  in  a  large  upper  room,  as  in 
the  Christian  story,  partook  of  the  Communion,  and 
with  his  good,  grey  head  bowed,  William  CuUen  Bryant 
was  baptized." 

This  was  only  a  deepening  of  the  religious  life  in 
him.  He  had  always  been  devout,  a  Bible  student 
and  a  strict  moraHst.  But  at  this  point  the  truth  of 
Christianity  was    born  again  "  to  him. 

For  eighteen  years  he  was  a  worshipper  in  a  Presby- 
terian Church  near  his  home  at  Roslyn.  It  was  at  the 
request  of  his  minister.  Dr.  Ely,  that  he  wrote  many  of 
his  hymns. 

The  ode  sung  at  the  Centennial  International  Exposi- 
tion at  Philadelphia  was  written  by  him. 

At  the  close  of  the  address  delivered  by  Dr.  Bellows 
on  the  occasion  of  his  funeral,  the  company  of  mourners 
sang  his  own  hymn  : 

"  Oh  deem  not  they  are  blest  alone 
Whose  days  a  peaceful  tenor  keep  ; 
The  Power  Who  pities  man  hath  shown 
A  blessing  for  the  eyes  th  at  weep." 


XVII. 

HYMNS  OF  THREE  FEMALE  SINGERS. 
I.  Adelaide  Anne  Procter. 

FOR  our  most  perfect  songs,  as  well  as  for  hymns, 
we  are  indebted  to  Adelaide  Anne  Procter, 
daughter  of  Barry  Cornwall.  In  every  drawing-room 
throughout  the  English-speaking  world,  mind  and  ear 
alike  have  been  charmed  by  The  Lost  Chord  and 
Cleansing  Fires,  while  many  have  heard  Sims  Reeves 
sing  The  Requital. 

Charles  Dickens  tells  how  she  first  entered  upon 
authorship. 

"In  the  spring  of  the  year  1853  ^  observed,  as 
conductor  of  Household  Words,  a  short  poem  among 
the  proffered  contributions,  very  different,  as  I  thought, 
from  the  shoals  of  verses  perpetually  setting  through 
the  office  of  such  a  periodical. 

"  She  was  one  Miss  Mary  Berwick,  whom  I  had 
never  heard  of;  and  she  was  to  be  addressed  by  letter, 
if  addressed  at  all,  at  a  circulating  library  in  the 
western  district  of  London.  Through  this  channel 
Miss  Berwick    was    informed    that   her   poem  was 


262 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  HYMNAL, 


accepted,  and  was  invited  to  send  another.  She 
complied  and  became  a  regular  and  frequent  con- 
tributor. Many  letters  passed  between  the  journal 
and  Miss  Berwick,  but  Miss  Berwick  herself  was 
never  seen.  .  .  . 

"  We  settled  somehow,  to  our  complete  satisfaction, 
that  she  was  a  governess  in  a  family ;  that  she  went  to 
Italy  in  that  capacity  and  returned.  We  really  knew 
nothing  whatever  of  her,  except  that  she  was  remark- 
ably business-like,  punctual,  self-reliant,  and  reliable  : 
so  I  suppose  we  insensibly  invented  the  rest.  .  .  . 

^'This  went  on  until  December  1854,  when  the 
Christmas  number  entitled  The  Seven  Poor  Travellers 
was  sent  to  press.  Happening  to  be  going  to  dine 
that  day  with  an  old  and  dear  friend,  distinguished  in 
literature  as  Barry  Cornwall,  I  took  with  me  an 
early  proof  of  that  number,  and  remarked,  as  I  laid  it 
on  the  drawing-room  table,  that  it  contained  a  very 
pretty  poem  written  by  a  certain  Miss  Berwick. 

^'  Next  day  brought  me  the  disclosure  that  I  had  so 
spoken  of  the  poem  to  the  mother  of  its  writer  in  its 
writer's  presence ;  that  the  name  had  been  assumed  by 
Barry  Cornwall's  eldest  daughter.  Miss  Adelaide  Anne 
Procter." 

Dickens  and  Barry  Cornwall  had  been  friends  of 
long  standing,  and  she  made  the  brave  resolution : 
"  If  I  send  him,  in  my  own  name,  verses  that  he 
does  not  honestly  like,  either  it  will  be  very  painful 
to  him  to  return  them,  or  he  will  print  them  for  papa's 
sake  and  not  for  their  own.    So  I  have  made  up  my 


HYMNS  OF  THREE  FEMALE  SINGERS.  263 

mind  to  take  my  chance  fairly  with  the  unknown 
volunteers."* 

While  still  a  child,  living  in  her  home  in  Bedford 
Square,  London,  she  was  proving  her  passion  for 
poetry. 

"  I  have  before  me  a  tiny  album,  made  of  small 
note-paper,  into  which  her  favourite  passages  were 
copied  for  her  by  her  mother's  hand  before  she  herself 
could  write.  It  looks  as  if  she  carried  it  about  as 
another  little  girl  might  have  carried  a  doll." 

At  twenty-six  her  reHgious  fervour  led  her  into  the 
fold  of  the  Roman  Catholics.  But  her  Christianity 
was  not  sectarian  nor  exclusive  :  her  hymns  display 
no  denominational  colour,  and  belong  to'  the  Church 
Universal.  Unlike  Faber's,  it  would  be  difficult  to  tell 
from  Miss  Procter's  hymns  to  what  communion  she 
belonged.  She  spent  herself  now  in  visiting  the  sick, 
now  in  sheltering  the  homeless,  and  teaching  the 
ignorant ;  and  again,  in  rescuing  those  of  her  own 
sex  who  had  strayed  from  virtue. 

"Swift  to  sympathize  and  eager  to  reHeve,  she 
wrought  at  such  designs  with  a  flushed  earnestness 
that  disregarded  season,  weather,  time  of  day  or  night, 
food,  rest." 

The  strain  soon  told  upon  her  constitution.  ''She 
lay  upon  her  bed  through  fifteen  months.  In  all  that 
time  her  old  cheerfulness  never  quitted  her.    She  died 


*  Miss  Procter's  Legends  and  Lyrics  :  Introduction  by  Charles 
Dickens  (2nd  series), 


264 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  HYMNAL. 


in  the  arms  of  the  mother  who  had  copied  her  chosen 
verses,  and  passed  away  in  peace  saying  :  "  It  has 
come  at  last." 

2.  Jean  Ingelow 

is  a  story-teller  now  in  prose  and  now  in  verse.  A 
native  of  Ipswich  (1828),  her  first  production,  published 
when  she  was  twenty-two  years  of  age,  was  A  Rhym- 
ing Chronicle.  She  early  came  under  the  spell  of 
Tennyson  and  Mrs.  Browning.  She  is  best  in  her 
narrative  pieces,  which  have  lyric  form  and  moral 
aim.  She  is  introspective  and  religious  in  tone,  is  a 
minute  student  of  man's  inner  life  and  of  nature's 
changing  beauties. 

Among  her  most  successful  novels  is  Off  the  Skelligs. 
One  of  her  hymns  has  become  part  of  our  most  recent 
public  praise. 

"  And  didst  Thou  leave  the  race  that  loved  not  Thee  ?  " 

3.  Harriet  Auber. 
The  story  of  the  origin  of  Harriet  Auber's 

"  Our  blest  Redeemer,  ere  He  breathed 
His  tender,  last  farewell,*' 

is  told  by  a  writer  who  assumes  the  name  "  Eusebius  " : 
I  happened  to  pay  a  visit  some  nine  years  since  to 
old  Daniel  Sedgwick's  out-of-the-way  shop  of  hymn- 
literature,  and  while  there  met  the  late  Rev.  Dawson 
Campbell  of  Ware,  Herts,  an  ardent  lover  of  hymns, 
who,  like  myself,  had  gone  to  the  little  shop  in  Sun 


HYMNS  OF  THREE  FEMALE  SINGERS.  265 


Street  in  search  of  hymn-books.  In  the  course  of  an 
interesting  conversation  he  told  me  that  he  had  for 
some  time  occupied  the  house  at  Hoddesdon,  Herts, 
in  which  Harriet  Auber  had  formerly  lived.  She 
had  written  her  beautiful  hymn, 

"  '  Our  blest  Redeemer,  ere  He  breathed 
His  tender,  last  farewell,' 

on  a  pane  of  glass  in  one  of  the  windows  with  a 
diamond ;  and  when  Mr.  Campbell  came  into  posses- 
sion the  pane  of  glass  was  still  intact.  Anxious  to 
have  it  as  a  curiosity  specially  interesting  to  him,  he 
asked  permission  of  the  landlord  to  remove  the  pane 
and  put  another  in  its  place  ;  but  the  landlord  declined. 
And  so,  up  to  that  time — seventeen  years  after  the 
author's  death — the  valuable  MS.  of  this  sweet  hymn 
remained  in  its  old  place. 

Mr.  Campbell  died,  I  believe,  only  a  short  while 
afterwards,  and  I  have  often  wondered  what  became  of 
that  pane  of  glass — whether  it  still  remains  unbroken, 
or  whether  some  child's  elbow,  or  some  street  boy's 
ill-habit  of  stone-throwing,  has  made  an  end  of  it. 
Among  all  the  curious  forms  in  which  hymn-writers 
have  written  their  compositions,  I  fancy  this  is  the 
only  case  on  record  of  a  hymn  written  by  its  author  on 
a  window-pane. 

This  hymn  is  one  of  a  number  that  she  wrote  for  her 
Spirit  of  the  Psalms ;  or  a  Compressed  Version  of  the 
Psalms — a  collection  of  sacred  pieces  by  various 
writers. 


XVIII. 


LAST,  BUT  NOT  LEAST. 
I.  T.  T.  Lynch. 
IKE  Spurgeon,  T.  T.  Lynch  was  at  one  time  an 


-* — '  usher  in  a  school.  He  was  only  twenty-three 
when  he  began  to  preach,  gathering  poor  people 
together  in  small  companies,  but  without  abandoning 
his  tutorial  duties.  After  taking  a  short  course  of 
study  at  Highbury  College,  he  undertook  the  pastorate 
of  a  dwindling  Independent  Church  at  Highgate. 
"  There  are  here  [Highgate]  nightingales  and  cuckoos 
as  many  as  one  could  wish ;  but  Christians  and 
Dissenters  are  by  no  means  so  plentiful."  Resigning 
his  dying  charge,  he  ministered  to  a  company  of 
scattered"  and  inquiring  spirits,  first  in  a  small  hired 
room  in  Mortimer  Street,  and  afterwards  in  Grafton 
Street.  Mornington  Church,  an  iron  building,  now  no 
longer  a  church,  in  Hampstead,  was  erected  for  him 
by  his  select  admirers,  and  there  he  preached  for  nine 
years. 

He  was  one  of  those  men  described  by  Henry  Ward 
Beecher :   "  sharp,  glittering  swords  that  cut  through 


LAST,  BUT  NOT  LEAST 


267 


the  scabbards  of  the  poor  flesh  holding  them."  He 
had  strength  for  only  one  sermon  on  Sunday,  although 
for  years  he  wrote  a  second,  which  was  read  to  the 
congregation  in  the  evening  by  some  friend.  These 
sermons  were  pubhshed,  after  his  death,  under  the 
half-playful  title  Sermons  for  my  Curates,  His  congre- 
gation consisted  mainly  of  scattered  units,  gathered 
from  all  quarters, — minds  generally  solitary  or  per- 
plexed, unable  to  accept  popular  theology,  and  yet 
earnest  and  inquiring. 

His  spirit  was  singularly  pure  and  devout,  his  mind 
independent,  and  yet  intolerant  of  mere  truth-hunting. 
So  peculiar  was  he  in  personal  appearance  that  when 
for  the  first  time  he  rose  at  College  to  address  his 
fellow-students,  they  greeted  him  with  laughter.  But 
in  a  few  minutes  he  had  them  under  the  spell  of  his 
intense  thought. 

His  hymns  are  gradually  finding  their  way  into 
books  of  praise.    One  is  well  known  : 

"  Gracious  Spirit,  dwell  with  me  ; 
I  myself  would  gracious  be." 

His  hymns  are  connected  with  a  theological  contro- 
versy which,  although  almost  forgotten  now,  thirty 
years  ago  kept  the  churches  in  a  "  down-grade " 
ferment. 

They  are  all  taken  from  The  Rivulet:  Hymns  for 
Heart  and  Voice.  Scarcely  had  they  appeared  when 
the  Morning  Advertiser — organ  of  the  Evangelicals  and 
the  brewers ! — fulminated  its  anathemas  on  the  book. 


268 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  HYMNAL, 


"  Nearly  the  whole  of  the  hymns  might  have  been 
written  by  a  Deist,  and  a  very  large  portion  might  be 
sung  by  a  congregation  of  Freethinkers."  Dr.  Camp- 
bell, editor  of  the  British  Banner ^  took  up  the  heresy  hunt, 
banned  the  Rivulet  as  "  Christless,"  as  deliberately 
contradicting  the  Word  of  God."  It  "might  have  been 
written  by  a  man  who  had  never  seen  a  Bible," — and 
so  on  ad  nauseam. 

A  band  of  fifteen  ministers  pubHshed  a  protest 
against  the  fierce  attack  made  on  this  delicate  and 
unique  spirit.  Among  his  defenders  were  Thomas 
Binney,  Baldwin  Brown,  and  Newman  Hall. 

The  attack  drew  from  him  Songs  Controversial  and 
The  Ethics  of  Quotation,  by  Silent  Long,  containing 
poetical  replies.  The  title-page  of  the  latter  bore  the 
scathing  sarcasm,  so  unlike  his  hymns  : 

"  Quote  him  to  death  !    Quote  him  to  death  ! 
Hit  him  and  hear  not  a  word  that  he  saith ; 
Shout  and  cry  out,  for  this  is  the  man 
Out  of  whose  spirit  the  '  Rivulet '  ran. 
What  is  his  soul  but  a  cauldron  that  brims 
Over  and  over  with  poisonous  hymns  ?  " 

The  controversy  undermined  his  ever-feeble  health,  and 
laid  him  aside  for  a  whole  year ;  and  no  doubt  hastened 
his  death. 

Twelve  years  after  the  first  issue  of  the  Rivulet  he 
added  sixty-seven  new  hymns  to  the  book.  "There 
came  upon  me  about  March,  and  stayed  with  me  for  some 
time,  a  spirit  of  hymn-writing,  or  rather  making,  for  I 


LAST,  BUT  NOT  LEAST. 


269 


seldom  compose  verse  in  hand  and  paper  before  me." 
^' I  am  issuing  a  new  edition  of  the  Rivulet  [1868]. 
Though  the  Thames  has  not  yet  been  set  on  fire,  this 
lesser  stream  \Rivulet\  once  blazed  famously.  It  will 
not  prove  combustible  now,  I  think  ;  and  nobody  need 
either  fear  or  loathe  to  drink  of  the  river,  unless  he  is 
very  '  Egyptian  ' — that  is,  very  Evangelical — indeed." 

He  died  with  these  words,  so  expressive  of  the 
yearning  of  his  soul,  on  his  lips :  "  Now  I  am  going 
to  begin  to  live." 

2.  Adams. 

Sarah  Adams,  although  a  Unitarian,  has  written  one 
of  our  favourite  hymns  : 

"  Nearer,  my  God,  to  Thee." 

It  has  been  severely  criticized  because  it  leaves  out 
all  reference  to  Christ.  This  criticism  is,  however,  a 
gun  that  kicks;  for  it  applies  equally  to  the  Book 
of  Esther,  which  contains  no  mention  of  God.  But 
surely  the  latter  reveals  the  finger  of  God,  and  the 
former  the  spirit  of  Christ.  Not  so  thought  the  editors 
of  the  Baptist  Hymn  Book,  for  whom  the  Rev.  A.  J. 
Russell  wrote  a  concluding  verse  : 

"  Christ  alone  beareth  me 
Where  Thou  dost  shine ; 
Joint-heir  He  maketh  me 

Of  the  Divine. 
In  Christ  my  soul  shall  be 
Nearest,  my  God,  to  Thee, 
Nearest  to  Thee." 


270  ROMANCE  OF  THE  HYMNAL. 

Mr.  Russell  should  also  be  engaged  to  compose  a  closing 
stanza  for  each  of  the  Psalms  ;  for  the  name  of  Christ 
is  not  mentioned  in  them.  This  addition  of  Mr.  Russell's 
ranks  with  the  stanza  affixed  by  Bickersteth  to 
Newman's  ''Lead,  kindly  Light." 

Sarah  Flower — afterwards  Mrs.  Adams — was  one  of 
two  sisters  of  great  literary  and  musical  capacity.  For 
the  hymns  of  the  one,  the  other  sister,  whose  taste 
was  musical,  composed  tunes.  Thirteen  of  her  Hymns 
were  embodied  in  the  Hymns  and  Anthems^  compiled 
by  her  minister,  who  was  also  the  founder  of  the 
Westminster  Review. 

Her  husband  was  a  London  civil  engineer  of  repute, 
who  also  possessed  considerable  literary  skill.  At  her 
funeral  at  Harlow,  Essex,  in  1849,  one  of  her  own 
hymns — said  to  be 

"  He  giveth  sun,  He  giveth  shower  " — 

was  sung  by  the  company  of  mourners. 

3.  Palgrave. 

F.  T.  Palgrave,  now  Professor  of  Poetry  at  Oxford  in 
succession  to  Professor  Shairp,  is  a  literary  and  art  critic 
as  much  as  a  poet.  For  a  time  he  acted  as  secretary  to 
Earl  Granville,  but  his  tastes  and  genius  are  altogether 
literary.  He  has  written  Essays  on  Art,  has  made  two 
selections  of  poetical  gems — The  Golden  Treasury  and 
The  Children's  Treasury, 

His  volumes  of  verse  have  all  the  classical  grace 
of  Greek  poetry.    They  are  characterized  by  symmetry 


LAST,  BUT  NOT  LEAST. 


271 


and  refinement,  and  an  absence  of  fervent  passion. 
His  Lyrical  Dreams  and  his  Idylls  and  Songs  are 
works  of  pure  art. 

His  volume  of  Hymns  reveals  the  same  quahties  of 
finish  and  form.  We  would  name  one  hymn  as  almost 
perfect : 

"  O  Light  of  life,  O  Saviour  dear, 
Before  we  sleep  bow  down  Thine  ear ; 
Through  dark  and  day,  o'er  land  and  sea, 
We  have  no  other  hope  but  Thee,"  etc. 

One  piece,  named  The  City  of  Godj  contains  two 
stanzas  of  beautiful  Christian  reflection  : 

**  Where'er  the  gentle  heart 
Finds  courage  from  above ; 
Where'er  the  heart  forsook 

Warms  with  the  breath  of  love ; 
Where  faith  bids  fear  depart, 
City  of  God,  thou  art. 

"  Where  in  life's  common  ways 
With  cheerful  feet  we  go  ; 
When  in  His  steps  we  tread 
Who  trod  the  way  of  woe  ; 
Where  He  is  in  the  heart, 
City  of  God,  thou  art. 


XIX. 


RETROSPECT. 


HE  Romanee  of  the  Hymnal  is  but  half  told. 


Very  regretfully  do  we  leave  untouched  the 
history  of  the  early  classic  sacred  poetry,  pictured  so 
exquisitely  by  George  Macdonald  in  his  England's 
Antiphon ;  the  story  of  Hymns  Ancient  and  Modern 
and  Sir  Henry  Baker,  Chairman  of  the  famous  "  Forty  " 
who  compiled  that  most  successful  of  all  Hymnals; 

L.  L.y"  Hymns  from  the  Land  of  Luther,  trans- 
lated from  the  German  by  the  two  sisters  Mrs. 
Findlater  and  Miss  J.  Borthwick;  the  Fatherless 
Hymns ;  and  the  various  versions  of  the  Psalms 
and  Paraphrases.  Other  names  remain :  our  old 
friends  Josiah  Conder,  Anne  Steele,  OHvers,  Perronet, 
Kelly,  Robinson ;  the  "  saintly "  McCheyne,  Monod, 
and  Burns;  two  knights.  Sir  John  Bowring,  a 
Unitarian,  and  Sir  R.  Grant. 

These,  too,  have  been  ministers  of  grace  to  our 
spirits ;  and  we  place  them  in  the  Legion  of  Honour 
of  the  Christian  Church. 


PART  III. 

SOME  MODERN  HYMN-TUNE  COMPOSERS. 


F.  G.  EDWARDS, 

Author   of  "  United  Praise." 


The  fineness  which  a  hymn  or  psalm  affords 
Is  when  the  soul  unto  the  lines  accords." 

George  Herbert. 


SOME  MODERN  HYMN-TUNE  COMPOSERS. 


1.  Dr.  H.  J.  Gauntlett. 

2.  Henry  Smart. 

3.  Dr.  E.  J.  Hopkins. 

4.  Rev.  J.  B.  Dykes,  Mus.  Doc. 

5.  Dr.  W.  H.  Monk. 

6.  Sir  John  Stainer. 

7.  Sir  Arthur  Sullivan. 

8.  Mr.  Joseph  Barney. 


"  The  Father  spake  !    In  grand  reverberations 

Through  space  rolled  on  the  mighty  music  tide  ; 
While  to  its  loiv,  majestic  modulations, 
The  clouds  of  chaos  slowly  swept  aside. 
***** 
"  And  wheresoever,  in  His  rich  creation, 

Sweet  music  breathes — in  ivave,  or  bird,  or  soul — 
'Tis  but  the  faint  and  far  reverberation 

Of  that  great  tune  to  which  the  planets  roll !  " 

Frances  S.  Osgood. 


DR.  H.  J.  GAUNTLETT. 


1806— 1876. 

THE  period  of  time  intervening  between  the  above 
dates  is  one  of  great  interest  in  the  history  of 
English  psalmody.  In  the  early  part  of  the  century 
hymn  singing,  especially  in  the  Established  Church, 
was  chiefly  confined  to  metrical  versions  of  the  Psalms, 
sung  to  tunes  crowded  with  twists,  turns,  and  passing 
notes,  and  having  repeats  which  often  occasioned  more 
humour  than  devotion.  Readers  of  George  Eliot's 
Scenes  of  Clerical  Life^  and  Washington  Irving's  Sketch 
Booky  will  remember  how  vividly  these  delightful 
authors  describe  the  performances  of  village  choirs  in 
days  gone  by.  The  following  extract  from  Eraser's 
Magazine,  September  i860,  is  very  droll  and  highly 
descriptive  : 

"The  particular  choir  in  our  own  church  we  recollect  well 
to  this  day,  and  some  of  their  most  striking  tunes.  We  used 
to  listen  with  mingled  awe  and  admiration  to  the  performance 
of  the  1 8th  Psalm  in  particular.  Take  two  lines  as  an  illus- 
tration of  their  style  : 

*  And  snatched  me  from  the  furious  rage 
Of  threatening  waves  that  proudly  swelled.' 

The  words,  'and  snatched  me  from,' were  repeated  severally 
by  the  trebles,  the  altos,  the  tenors,  and  the  bass  voices;  then 


278 


HYMN- TUNE  COMPOSERS. 


all  together  sang  the  words  two  or  three  times  over ;  in  like 
manner  did  they  toss  and  tumble  over  '  the  furious  rage,' 
apparently  enjoying  the  whirligig  scurrying  of  their  fugues, 
like  so  many  kittens  chasing  their  own  tails,  till  at  length, 
after  they  had  torn  and  worried  that  single  line,  even  to  the 
exhaustion  of  the  most  powerful  lungs — after  a  very  red- 
faced  bass,  who  kept  the  village  inn,  had  become  perceptibly 
apoplectic  about  the  eyes,  and  the  bassoon  was  evidently 
blown,  and  a  tall,  thin  man,  with  a  long  nose,  which  was  his 
principal  vocal  organ,  and  who  sang  tenor,  was  getting  out 
of  wind — they  all,  clarionet,  bassoon,  violoncello,  the  red-faced 
man,  the  tall  tenor,  and  the  rest,  rushed  pell-mell  into  *  the 
waves  that  proudly  swelled.'  We  have  not  forgotten  the 
importance  with  which  they  used  to  walk  up  the  church  path 
in  a  body  with  their  instruments  after  this  effort ;  and  our 
childish  fancy  revelled  in  the  impression  that,  after  the 
clergyman,  and  the  Duke  of  Wellington,  who  had  won  the 
battle  of  Waterloo  a  few  years  before,  these  singers  were 
the  most  notable  public  characters  in  being." 

In  town  churches  the  singing,  what  little  there  was 
of  it,  was  mostly  confined  to  the  caterwaulings  of  a 
few  charity  children  seated  around  the  organ.  Charles 
Dickens,  who  certainly  kept  his  eyes  and  ears  open, 
refers  to  psalmody  as  if  it  were  only  a  concern  of  the 
charity  children.  In  his  Sketches  by  Boz  (published 
in  1836),  Captain  Purday 

"finds  fault  with  the  sermon  every  Sunday;  says  that  the 
organist  ought  to  be  ashamed  of  himself;  offers  to  back 
himself  for  any  amount  to  sing  the  psalms  better  than  all  the 
children  put  together,  male  or  female." 

No  wonder  that  loud  cries  of  reform  came  from  both 
pulpit  and  pew;  and,  although  the  Oxford  Tractarian 
Movement  is  generally  credited  with  being  the  force 
which  impelled  the  necessary  changes,  yet  other  earnest 


DR.   H.  J.  GAUNTLETT. 


279 


workers  had  already  begun  to  sow  the  seeds  of  reform, 
foremost  amongst  them  being  the  subject  of  our 
sketch. 

Henry  John  Gauntlett,  the  son  of  a  clergyman,  was 
born  at  Wellington,  Shropshire,  in  1806.  His  father 
shortly  afterwards  became  vicar  of  Olney,  Buckingham- 
shire, and  four  of  his  sons  were  successively  organists 
of  his  church — Henry  taking  the  duties  at  the  early 
age  of  nine.  When  he  was  sixteen,  young  Gauntlett 
conducted  a  performance  of  the  Messiah,  for  which 
he  had  copied  all  the  parts  with  his  own  hand,  and 
rehearsed  all  the  performers.  His  father  elected  to 
bring  him  up  to  the  law,  and  in  his  twentieth  year  he 
was  articled  to  a  London  solicitor.  He  practised  till 
1844,  when  he  relinquished  the  law  and  adopted  music 
as  his  profession. 

He  studied  the  organ  under  ^'  Old  Sam "  Wesley, 
but  soon  became  so  proficient  that  Wesley  passed  the 
lesson  hour  in  playing  to  his  pupil  instead  of  listening 
to  him.  He  was  organist  of  St.  Olave's,  Southwark 
(1827);  Christ  Church,  Newgate  Street;  Union  Chapel, 
Islington  (1852-61);  and  St.  Bartholomew-the-Less, 
Smithfield.  The  high  reputation  which  Dr.  Allon's 
chapel  deservedly  enjoys  for  congregational  singing 
is  largely  due  to  Dr.  Gauntlett's  exertions  during  the 
thirteen  years  he  directed  the  musical  portion  of  the 
services  there. 

In  1842  he  was  nominated  organist  to  the  King  of 
Hanover;  and  in  the  same  year  received  the  degree 
of  Doctor  of  Music  from  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury. 


28o 


HYMN-TUNE  COMPOSERS. 


The  degree  had  not  been  conferred  by  the  Archbishop 
for  two  hundred  years,  and  Gauntlett  was  the  second 
recipient  of  it,  the  first  being  Dr.  John  Blow. 

Dr.  Gauntlett  was  a  remarkable  man  in  many 
respects.  Mendelssohn  said  of  him,  "  His  Hterary 
attainments,  his  knowledge  of  the  history  of  mutic, 
his  acquaintance  with  acoustical  laws,  his  marvellous 
memory,  his  philosophical  turn  of  mind,  as  well  as  his 
practical  experience,  rendered  him  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  professors  of  the  age."  He  was  very 
intimate  with  Mendelssohn,  who  specially  selected  him 
to  play  the  organ  at  the  production  of  Elijah  at  Bir- 
mingham in  1846,  an  honour  which  many  an  organist 
might  covet.  Mendelssohn  at  that  time  had  written 
no  organ  part,  so  Gauntlett  had  the  anxious  task  of 
playing  from  a  full  score.  In  one  place  he  introduced 
the  organ  where  Mendelssohn  had  not  so  intended. 

^'  When  you  began  to  play  in   said  Mendelssohn 

to  him  afterwards,  "  I  ran  cold  all  down  my  back  !  I 
did  not  intend  to  have  any  organ  there,  but  the  effect 
is  so  fine  I  shall  put  it  in." 

Dr.  Gauntlett's  life-work  may  be  divided  into  three 
portions  :  his  literary  work  ;  his  introduction  of  the  C 
or  German  compass  to  English  organs ;  and  that  which 
was  the  crowning  ambition  of  his  life,  the  improvement 
of  congregational  singing  in  the  churches  and  chapels 
of  the  land. 

His  literary  powers  were  of  no  mean  order.  He  had 
a  strong,  vigorous  style,  and  expressed  his  opinions 
fearlessly.     He  was  full  of  learning,  common-sense, 


DR.   H.  J.  GAUNTLETT. 


281 


vehemence,  and  dogmatism.  But  in  pressing  his 
strong  opinions  he  sometimes,  no  doubt  unconsciously, 
offended  delicate  susceptibiHties,  and  thus  made 
enemies.  He  was  one  of  the  earliest  champions  of 
Beethoven  in  this  country.  He  was  a  warm  admirer 
of  Bach,  whose  intense  Protestant  feeling  was  doubt- 
less one  of  the  attractions  which  early  led  Gauntlett 
to  a  study  of  that  master,  the  fibre  of  whose  choral 
songs  he  worked  up  in  his  own  psalmody. 

Dr.  Gauntlett  was,  in  his  day,  an  organist  of  high 
attainments.  He  was  probably  the  first  advocate  in 
this  country  for  the  German  system  of  organ-building, 
in  which  the  compass  of  the  instrument  was  altered 
and  extended  from  G  to  C,  so  as  to  correspond  with 
the  orchestral  bass.  Like  most  reformers,  he  en- 
countered the  strongest  opposition,  but  finding  a  valu- 
able auxihary  in  William  Hill,  the  organ-builder,  he 
attained  his  aim,  and  through  his  exertions  the  C 
organ  was  firmly  estabhshed  in  England.  He  superin- 
tended the  construction  and  re-construction  (on  his 
plans)  of  the  organs  in  Christ  Church,  Newgate  Street ; 
St.  Peter's,  Cornhill ;  St.  Olave's,  Southwark ;  Dr. 
RafQes's  church,  in  Liverpool ;  and  the  Birmingham 
Town  Hall.  It  was  in  reference  to  the  organs  of  St. 
Peter's  and  Christ  Church  that  Mendelssohn  made  his 
well-known  observation,  that  "  but  for  him  "  [Gaunt- 
lett] I  should  have  had  no  organ  to  play  upon.  He 
ought  to  have  a  statue."  In  185 1  he  took  out  a  patent 
for  applying  electric  or  magnetic  action  to  the  organ ; 
and  proposed  a  scheme  whereby  three  or  four  large 


282 


HYMN-TUNE  COMPOSERS. 


organs  should  be  erected  in  different  parts  of  the 
Crystal  Palace,  and  all  be  played  at  the  same  time 
from  one  keyboard  by  means  of  electricity ;  but  the 
proposal  was  never  carried  out,  owing  to  its  great 
expense. 

Few  musicians  have  done  more  for  church  music  in 
England  than  Dr.  Gauntlett,  so  far  as  regards  hymn- 
tunes.  For  the  last  forty  years  of  his  life  he  was 
engaged  in  composing,  editing,  and  publishing  psalm- 
tunes,  chants,  and  anthems ;  and  there  is  hardly  an 
important  collection  of  church  music  published  within 
that  time,  in  the  preparation  of  which  he  was  not 
concerned  either  as  editor  or  contributor.  It  is  not 
too  much  to  say  that  his  wide  experience,  his  finished 
taste,  his  unceasing  and  unwearied  industry,  have 
assisted  in  raising  English  metrical  music  for  pubhc 
worship  to  a  high  rank  in  Christian  song. 

Amongst  the  more  important  of  his  works  may  be 
named  The  Church  Hymn  and  Tune-book  (edited  in  con- 
junction with  the  Rev.  W.  J.  Blew),  a  model  afterwards 
copied  by  the  compilers  of  Hymns  Ancient  and  Modern^ 
and  subsequent  hymnals ;  the  Comprehensive  Tune- 
book]  the  Hallelujah  (with  the  Rev.  J.  J.  Waite) ;  77?^ 
Congregational  Psalmist  (with  the  Rev.  Dr.  Allon) ; 
Hymns  for  Little  Children,  etc.  He  also  edited  the 
Church  Musician  (a  periodical)  ;  the  Prayer-book  Noted; 
a  Gregorian,  a  Cathedral,  and  a  Bible  Psalter.  A 
comparison  of  the  above  tune-books  with  those  which 
preceded  them  will  show  how  much  church  music  is 
indebted  to  Dr.  Gauntlett  for  the  present  style  of  four- 


DR.  H.  J.  GAUNTLETT. 


283 


part  harmonies,  and  the  exchange  of  noble  simpHcity 
for  the  shakes,  graces,  and  turns  of  the  old  tunes. 

It  is  as  a  composer  of  hymn-tunes  that  Dr.  Gauntlett 
will  be  best  remembered  hereafter.  He  was  a  most 
prolific  composer.  He  once  said  that  he  thought  he 
must  have  written  thousands  of  tunes."  He  would 
write  a  tune  while  sitting  at  the  table  with  the  same 
ease  as  that  with  which  most  people  pen  a  letter. 
Some  of  his  tunes  were  not  written  to  the  words 
commonly  associated  with  them.  For  instance,  ^'  St. 
Alphege,"  sung  to  hymns  of  such  opposite  sentiments 
as  "  Brief  life  is  here  our  portion,"  and  "  The  voice 
that  breathed  o'er  Eden,"  was  written  for  a  hymn 
beginning,  The  hymn  of  glory  sing  we."  This  tune 
("  St.  Alphege ")  he  wrote  at  the  dinner-table  while 
a  messenger  was  waiting,  as  the  proper  tune  for  the 
hymn  had  been  mislaid  or  was  wanting.  Pushing 
his  plate  on  one  side,  he  said,  Give  me  some  paper," 
and  in  a  minute  or  two  the  well-known  tune  was 
written.  Another  tune,  *^  St.  Albinus,"  was  likewise 
not  composed  for  the  words  Jesus  lives ;  no  longer 
now,"  etc.,  usually  sung  to  it.  Angels  to  our  jubilee  " 
was  the  first  line  of  the  hymn  for  which  the  tune  was 
written ;  and  in  its  original  form  the  tune  has  the  fifth 
note  dotted  instead  of  the  third,  as  in  some  hymnals. 
His  charming  tune  Irby,"  to  Once  in  royal  David's 
city,"  a  great  favourite  with  children,  was  originally 
written  as  a  melody  with  accompaniment,  and  not  in 
four  parts. 

On  February  21st,  1876,  Dr.  Gauntlett,  at  his  house 


284 


HYMN-TUNE  COMPOSERS. 


at  Kensington,  closed  his  useful  and  laborious  life. 
On  the  morning  of  his  death  he  wrote  seven  hymn- 
tunes  before  breakfast.  On  returning  from  his  after- 
noon walk  he  sat  down  in  his  study,  and  passed  away 
quietly  and  very  suddenly.  The  reform  of  the  music 
of  the  sanctuary  was  his  unceasing  work  till  the  very 
hour  that  the  Master  called  him. 


HENRY  SMART. 


1813— 1879. 


HE  name  of  Henry  Smart  is  well  known  wher- 


ever  English  hymns  are  sung.  Though  his  tunes 
are  fewer  in  number,  they  almost,  if  not  quite,  equal 
in  popularity  those  by  SuUivan  and  Dykes,  and  they 
may  be  fitly  classed  as  favourites  in  our  service  of 
praise." 

Henry  Smart,  the  son  of  a  musician,  was  born  in 
London,  October  26th,  1813.  His  uncle  was  Sir 
George  Smart,  a  celebrated  musician  and  conductor  in 
his  day  (also  composer  to  the  Chapel  Royal),  who  gave 
lessons  in  singing  until  he  was  past  eighty  years  of  age. 
As  a  boy,  Henry  was  passionately  fond  of  engineering, 
and  would  spend  his  half-holidays  in  rambling  through 
the  workshops  of  organ  builders,  and  of  Maudsley's,  the 
well-known  engineers.  His  mechanical  drawings  at  the 
age  of  twelve  were  remarkable,  and  had  means  been 
forthcoming,  there  is  little  doubt  that  our  composer 
would  have  become  an  eminent  engineer  instead  of 
a  distinguished  musician.  Upon  declining  a  commission 
in  the  Indian  army,  he  was  articled  to  a  solicitor,  sorely 


286 


HYMN-TUNE  COMPOSERS. 


against  his  will.  After  having  served  four  years  of  his 
time  he  learnt  enough  of  law  to  discover  that  his  articles 
were  informal,  not  having  been  properly  witnessed, 
and,  greatly  to  his  mother's  dismay,  he  said,  "  I  took 
up  law  to  please  my  relations,  and  now  I'll  leave  it  to 
please  my  self y  He  had  extraordinary  natural  faculties 
for  music,  and  was  to  a  great  extent  self-taught. 
Organ-playing  soon  became  his  constant  passion,  and 
no  scheme  of  life  found  favour  with  him  which  did  not 
include  this  fascinating  pursuit.  His  first  organ  appoint- 
ment, at  the  parish  church  of  Blackburn,  Lancashire, 
he  obtained  at  the  age  of  eighteen,  by  which  time  he 
had  already  become  an  organist  above  the  average. 
Pupils  soon  came  to  him,  but  he  felt  that  he  himself 
had  much  to  learn.  Late  on  winter  nights  he  would 
remain  shut  up  in  the  church,  mastering  the  difficulties 
of  his  instrument,  while  doubtless  the  poor  blower  often 
wished  him  in  bed.  He  took  a  fancy  to  learning  the 
violin,  but  the  self-inflicted  tortures  of  the  scales  were 
too  much  for  him,  and  in  a  fit  of  anguish  he  threw  the 
unlucky  fiddle  on  the  ground  and  stamped  it  to  pieces. 
His  musical  services  were  often  in  request  for  Churches 
of  all  communions.  Once  he  conducted  Beethoven's 
Mass  in  C  for  the  Roman  Catholics  entirely  from 
memory,  without  a  copy,  as  the  score  was  unaccount- 
ably missing.  For  a  missionary  meeting  of  Noncon- 
formists he  wrote  his  beautiful  hymn-tune  "Lancashire." 
He  trained  his  own  choir  to  sing  entirely  from  memory, 
as  he  considered  the  singers  were  much  more  reliable 
when  unencumbered  with  printed  parts. 


HENRY  SMART. 


287 


In  1836  (aged  twenty-three),  Smart  left  Blackburn 
for  London.  He  was  organist  first  of  St.  Philip's, 
Regent  Street  (1836-44),  then  of  St.  Luke's,  Old 
Street,  City  (1844-64),  after  competition,  the  judges 
being  Messrs.  Turle,  Goss,  and  Topliff.  In  1864  he 
became  organist  of  St.  Pancras  Church,  which  appoint- 
ment he  held  till  his  death. 

Smart's  was  a  busy  life,  but,  as  he  kept  no  diary,  and 
as  little  of  his  correspondence  has  been  preserved,  the 
materials  for  detailed  incidents  are  of  the  scantiest 
description.  His  time  was  almost  entirely  occupied 
with  composing  and  his  church  duties.  He  was  a 
great  connoisseur  of  organs,  for  which  his  musical 
instincts  and  engineering  proclivities  specially  qualified 
him.  He  was  often  consulted  about,  and  had  much  to 
do  with,  the  planning  and  erection  of  organs.  To  a 
large  extent  he  drew  up  the  specifications  of  the  large 
organs  in  Leeds  Town  Hall,  the  City  Hall  and  St. 
Andrew's  Hall  in  Glasgow.  He  personally  superin- 
tended the  erection  of  the  last  named  instrument  in 
every  detail,  although  he  was  quite  blind  at  the  time. 
He  was  very  severe  in  his  criticism,  and  fearlessly  out- 
spoken in  his  opinions.  Some  of  the  congregation  of 
a  chapel  in  Leeds  repeatedly  pressed  Smart  to  go  and 
try  their  (as  they  thought)  beautiful  instrument,"  and 
after  some  persuasion  he  went.  He  did  not  seem  to  like 
the  flue  work,  but  when  he  got  to  the  reeds,  he  uttered 
a  very  significant  ^'  Bah  !  "  One  of  the  company  said, 
"  Now,  Mr.  Smart,  those  are  fine  reeds,  I  think,"  where- 
upon Smart  replied,  "  Fine,  indeed  !  are  they  ?  The 


288 


HYMN-TUNE  COMPOSERS. 


only  sort  of  sounds  I  can  liken  them  to  is  what  I  have 
heard  in  cottages  when  they're  frying  sausages  !  " 

At  an  early  age  our  composer  suffered  from  defective 
eyesight,  which  became  worse  until  he  ultimately  lost  it 
altogether.  He  was  therefore  obliged  to  dictate  all  his 
compositions  to  an  amanuensis,  and  it  may  be  readily 
imagined  how  severely  trying  this  mode  of  expressing 
his  thoughts  must  have  been  to  a  sensitive  and  highly- 
strung  temperament.  But  his  good  daughter,  Clara, 
cheered  and  encouraged  him.  She  devoted  herself 
heart  and  soul  to  his  interests  and  work,  and  spared 
no  pains  in  writing  down  every  detail  of  his  composi- 
tions from  his  dictation.  With  ordinary  songs,  etc., 
his  plan  was  to  have  the  words  read  over  to  him  two  or 
three  times — they  were  then  firmly  fixed  in  his  memory; 
he  would  then  go  to  his  ''den/'  as  he  termed  his  little 
study,  light  his  pipe,  pace  up  and  down  the  room,  or  go 
into  the  garden,  and  return  to  play  the  piece  over  on 
the  piano.  Calling  for  his  daughter  to  get  out  music- 
paper,  pen,  and  ink,  he  would  proceed  at  once  to  dictate 
the  thoughts  which  were  in  his  mind.  The  process 
was  very  plain  and  intelligible,  though  painfully  slow. 
For  instance,  he  would  proceed  thus  : — 

"  Symphony  to  a  song,  key  G  with  one  sharp  ;  treble 
and  bass  clefs,  f  time  ;  treble,  crotchet  chord,  tail  up, 
D  and  B  below  the  lines ;  two  quavers,  tails  up,  bound 
together ;  G  second  line,  B  above ;  bar.  Crotchet,  A 
second  space,  E  below,  C  below.  Two  quavers,  tails 
up,  bound  together ;  E  first  line,  A  second  line,"  and  so 
on,  and  the  result  would  be 


HENRY  SMART. 


289 


All  this  trouble  just .  for  two  bars  in  the  treble  only, 
without  bass  ;  but  when,  instead  of  a  song  or  organ 
piece,  it  came  to  be  an  oratorio,  written  in  full  score 
for  a  large  orchestra,  solos,  chorus,  and  organ,  the 
wonder  is  increased,  and  the  labour  appears  to  be 
altogether  herculean. 

Smart's  vocal  music  is  characterised  by  freshness  of 
melody  and  purity  of  part  writing,  and  is  invariably 
interesting.  Although  he  wrote  cantatas  and  a  large 
number  of  songs,  etc.,  he  is  chiefly  known  by  his 
church  and  organ  music,  in  which  he  happily  combines 
the  ancient,  or  strict  style,  with  modern  harmonies  and 
modes  of  musical  expression.  There  is  probably  no 
Te  Deum  more  popular  than  Smart  in  F  "  ;  and  when 
we  consider  its  grandeur,  pathos,  and  depth  of  ex- 
pression, it  is  no  wonder  that  singers  and  hearers  are 
thrilled  at  the  soul-stirring  strains  of  this  noble  setting 
of  the  grand  Ambrosian  hymn.  Among  many  tunes 
that  Smart  contributed  to  various  hymnals  the  follow- 
ing may  be  considered  favourites  in  quires  and  places 
where  they  sing":  "  Heathlands,"  "Lancashire," 
"Northumberland,"  "Regent  Square,"  ''St.  Leonard," 
and  "  Pilgrims  "  ;  the  last-named  is  not  only  the  best 
known,  but  is  a  fine  specimen  of  the  modern  hymn 
tune  with  simple  harmonies.  It  is  set  to  Faber's 
"  Hark,  hark  my  soul,  angelic  songs  are  swelling," 
and  no  other  tune  suits  the  words  nearly  so  well. 

19 


HYMlSr-TUNE  COMPOSERS. 


Space  will  not  admit  of  detailed  reference  to  Smart's 
organ  music.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  it  is  the  delight  of 
every  organist  worthy  of  the  name,  and  that  it  in- 
variably gives  pleasure  to  those  who  can  appreciate 
tuneful  yet  good  music  when  they  hear  it. 

Before  closing  this  brief  notice  of  Smart's  life,  some 
reference  should  be  made  to  his  opinions  and  practices 
in  connection  with  church  music  and  congregational 
singing.  Smart  preferred  the  old  word  "Psalmody" 
to  the  more  modern  term  "  Hymnody,"  and  the  stately, 
dignified,  ''measured  beat  and  slow"  movement  of  the 
old  psalm  tunes  was  more  to  his  taste  than  were  the 
more  effeminate  productions  of  modern  times.  Nothing 
puerile  or  childish  ever  met  with  his  approval.  "The 
tunes,"  he  used  to  say,  "  which  find  the  most  favour 
nowadays  are  those  which  best  please  the  ladies ;  and 
the  ladies,  I  hold,  are  not  the  best  judges  of  what  is 
sound  and  good  in  psalmody." 

He  had  no  sympathy  with  Ritualism,  and  detested 
Gregorians  in  any  shape  or  form.  On  one  occasion  he 
met  a  young  high-church  curate  at  dinner  who  was  an 
enthusiastic  admirer  of  the  Gregorian  tones.  The 
curate  dogmatised  too  much  on  the  subject  to  please 
Smart,  who  lost  his  temper  entirely.  Raising  his  fine, 
stalwart  figure  to  its  full  height.  Smart  said,  "  Now, 
look  here  !  this  won't  do  ;  who  asked  your  opinion,  sir, 
upon  musical  questions  of  which  you  evidently  know 
absolutely  nothing  ?  You  may  rely  upon  it  that  some 
day,  when  you  and  your  friends  are  shouting  those  ugly 
Gregorian  chants,  Heaven  will  punish  you,  and  rain 


HENRY  SMART. 


291 


down  bags  of  crotchets  upon  your  heads,  and  prevent  you 
from  ever  singing  them  again  ! " 

Smart  was  an  advocate  of  unison  singing  in  con- 
gregational praise,  and  his  views  were  admirably  put 
into  practice  at  St.  Pancras,  where  he  was  so  long 
organist.  He  had  no  choir;  only  about  twenty  boys 
from  the  National  School,  who  practised  with  him  once 
a  week.  His  accompaniments  to  the  broad  voice  of 
the  congregational  song  were  masterly.  He  would  fre- 
quently alter  the  harmony  to  give  appropriate  colouring 
to  the  words.  He  had  a  strong  aversion  to  playing 
the  tunes  quickly,  and  said,  won^t  play  them  fast, 
and  I  tell  you  why.  First,  because  it  is  vulgar ; 
second,  because  it  is  musically  wrong  (for  all  music 
has  its  proper  time)  ;  and  third,  there  is  no  authority 
for  fast  playing.  Sometimes  I  am  told  that  the  con- 
gregation would  like  to  sing  more  quickly,  but  I  answer 
that  I  am  the  best  judge  of  their  inclinations,  and  I 
have  a  good  deal  of  trouble  to  keep  them  up  to  their 
present  speed."  He  rightly  acknowledged,  however, 
that  the  St.  Pancras  service  would  not  do  everywhere. 
There  are  very  few  organists  who  are  gifted  with  the 
freshness,  fertility,  knowledge  of  the  various  harmonies 
of  which  a  given  melody  is  susceptible,  and  mastery  of 
the  keyboard,  as  was  Henry  Smart. 

With  his  love  of  congregational  singing,  and  his 
profound  knowledge  of  harmony,  it  is  not  surprising 
that  he  was  appointed  musical  editor  of  The  Presbyterian 
Hymnal  (used  by  the  United  Presbyterian  Church  of 
Scotland),  which  was  first  issued  in  1877. 


292 


HYMN-TUNE  COMPOSERS. 


The  following  personal  reminiscence  of  Smart  is 
taken  from  Mr,  J.  Spencer  Curwen's  interesting  Studies 
in  Worship  Music  (ist  Series).  Mr.  Curwen  says: — 
^'  On  one  occasion  he  invited  me  to  sit  with  him  on 
a  Sunday  evening  in  the  roomy  organ  pew  at  St. 
Pancras  Church.  Mr.  Smart  was  so  companionable 
and  chatty  that  he  liked  to  have  friends  with  him  at 
his  organ,  and  indeed  I  believe  he  was  seldom  alone. 
As  the  service  opened  he  beckoned  me  to  come 
and  sit  on  the  stool  beside  him.  At  the  'Cantate 
Domine '  the  people  began  to  make  themselves  heard. 
^  Do  you  hear  that  ? '  he  said,  as  the  sound  rose 
from  nave  and  gallery ;  '  that,  to  my  mind,  is  finer 
than  any  choir ! '  And  he  played  away,  revelling  in 
the  massive  unison  which  he  was  accompanying. 
He  managed  to  give  expression  to  the  hymn  in  this 
way  [it  should  be  remembered  that  he  was  then  quite 
blind]  :  The  youth  who  was  his  amanuensis  and  com- 
panion would  read  the  words  to  him,  while  he  listened 
with  head  bent,  drinking  in,  as  it  were,  the  spirit  of 
the  poet.  Then,  when  the  time  came  for  singing,  he 
was  ready.  But  now  and  then  in  the  progress  of  the 
hymn  he  would  forget,  and  ask,  *  What's  the  next 
verse  about  ? '  changing  the  character  of  his  accom- 
paniment to  suit  the  words.  '  Hark  at  that,'  he  said 
to  me,  as  he  played  an  old  tune  which  he  admired, 
'there's  a  fine  line.  Regular  German  that.  Could 
you  take  that  faster  ? '  " 

The  following  amusing  anecdote  relating  to  Henry 
Smart  may  prove  of  interest.     It  was  formerly  the 


HENRY  SMART. 


293 


custom  for  the  organist  to  play  a  few  chords  by  way  of 
interlude  between  each  verse  of  the  hymn.  In  Smart's 
early  organist  days  there  were  some  grumblers  (the 
race  is  still  in  existence)  who  adversely  criticised  his 
playing  in  the  service.  Smart  said  nothing,  but  waited 
his  opportunity.  It  came  when  Miles' Lane,"  to  ^'All 
hail  the  power  of  Jesu's  Name,"  was  to  be  sung.  He 
.started  it  in  the  usual  key,  B  flat.  All  went  well  at 
the  first  verse.  In  the  interlude  between  verses  one 
and  two  he  modulated,  almost  imperceptibly  and  very 
cleverly,  into  B,  a  semitone  higher ;  between  verses 
two  and  three  he  modulated  into  C,  when  it  was  found 
that  the  high  notes  on  ^'  Crown  Him  "  did  not  come 
so  easily ;  between  verses  three  and  four  a  semitone 
higher  still,  and  so  on,  until  the  high  notes  of  the 
remaining  verses  must  have  silently  followed  those  of 
the  Lost  Chord,"  and  it  may  be  that  onl}^  in  heaven 
we  shall  hear  those  lost  high  notes.  Needless  to 
say  that  the  young  organist  effectually  silenced  (in 
two  ways)  his  critics  by  this  masterly  display  of  skill. 
The  moral  of  this  incident  is  that  organists,  be  they 
young  or  old,  are  only  human  beings,  and  cannot 
please  everybody  at  the  same  time. 

Smart  died  after  a  short  illness,  literally  in  harness, 
at  his  house  near  Primrose  Hill,  London,  on  July  6th, 
1879,  at  the  age  of  sixty-seven.  On  his  deathbed  he 
received  the  news  that,  upon  the  recommendation  of  Lord 
Beaconsfield,  the  Queen  had  been  graciously  pleased  to 
grant  him  a  pension  of  ;^100  per  annum  from  the  Civil 
List.    He  never  lived  to  enjoy  this  reward,  but  was 


294 


HYMN-TUNE  COMPOSERS. 


much  gratified  at  this  Royal  acknowledgment  of  the 
services  he  had  so  faithfully  rendered  to  musical  art. 
He  was  buried  in  the  picturesque  cemetery  of  Hamp- 
stead,  in  the  same  parcel  of  ground "  where  three 
other  of  Music's  gifted  sons — Joseph  Maas,  Walter 
Bache,  and  George  Alexander  Macfarren — sleep  ^'the 
sweet  sleep  of  death." 


DR.   EDWARD  JOHN  HOPKINS. 
1818— 

IT  is  Easter  Sunday.  Following  the  example  of 
Dr.  Johnson,  let  us  take  a  walk  down  Fleet  Street." 
Proceeding  eastward  we  soon  arrive  at  the  narrow 
entrance  to  Inner  Temple  Lane.  Entering  the  half- 
open  gateway  we  find  ourselves  in  the  region  of  law 
and  lawyers.  All  is  calm  and  still,  but  should  the 
strains  of 

Brief  Xxio.  is  here  our  portion" 
Strike  our  ears,  we  should  appreciate  its  appropriate- 
ness.   A  few  steps  and  we  reach  the  portal  of  the 
celebrated  Temple  Church. 

The  history  and  monuments  of  this  church  are 
very  interesting.  It  is  a  beautiful  Gothic  stone 
building,  and  was  founded  by  the  Templars  in  the 
jreign  of  Henry  II.,  who  built  it  in  imitation  of  the 
Temple  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  at  Jerusalem.  It  prac- 
tically consists  of  two  churches  in  one.  The  circular 
portion  (one  of  the  four  round  churches  in  England) 
is  Transition  and  Early  English,  and  was  consecrated 
1 1 85;  the  choir  (or  ''square"  portion)  is  pure  Early 
English,  and  was  consecrated  in  1240.    Some  of  the 


296 


HYMN-TUNE  COMPOSERS. 


Crusaders  are  buried  here,  and  Oliver  Goldsmith's 
remains  rest  in  the  churchyard. 

Lawyers  and  musicians  have,  perhaps,  not  much 
in  common,  unless  it  is  in  their  mutual  acquaintance 
of  the  bar.  Yet  the  music  at  the  Temple  Church 
has  long  been  famous.  The  organ  is  of  historical 
interest.  About  1683  the  Benchers  were  desirous  of 
having  a  first-class  organ.  Bernard  Schmidt  (a 
German  who  afterwards  swelled  the  roll  of  the 
English  Smiths,  but  with  the  prefix  "Father") 
competed  with  John  and  Renatus  Harris  for  the 
honour  of  supplying  the  instrument.  Each  builder 
erected  an  organ  in  the  church.  Smith's  was  in 
a  gallery  at  the  west  end  of  the  square  portion,  and 
Harris's  on  the  south  side  of  the  communion  table. 
The  two  instruments  were  used  on  alternate  Sundays. 
Drs.  Blow  and  Purcell  performed  upon  Smith's  organ, 
while  Harris  employed  Draghi,  organist  to  Queen 
Catherine,  to  play  upon  his.  Ultimately,  both  organs 
were  played  at  the  same  services,  and  after  repeated 
trials  the  Benchers,  at  the  end  of  1687,  or  the  beginning 
of  1688,  decided  to  accept  Father  Smith's  organ  on 
the  ground  of  its  greater  strength  and  depth  of  tone. 
The  original  specification  included  three  full  sets  of 
ke^'S  and  quarter  notes  ("great,  choir,  and  Ecchos"), 
four  hundred  and  one  pipes,  and  twenty-three  stops, 
among  which  were  some  German  stops  hitherto 
unknown  in  England.  The  organ  has  been  frequently 
added  to,  and  entirely  reconstructed.  It  now  con- 
tains four   manuals  and  a  pedale,  3,643  pipes,  and 


DR.  E.  J.  HOPKINS. 


297 


seventy  stops.  Here,  seated  at  the  key-boards  of 
this  fine  instrument,  we  find  the  subject  of  this 
sketch  very  much  "  at  home." 

Edward  John  Hopkins  was  born  at  Westminster, 
June  30th,  1818.  He  is  one  of  a  musical  family. 
His  brother,  John  Hopkins,  is  at  the  present  time 
organist  of  Rochester  Cathedral,  and  his  cousin, 
John  Larkin  Hopkins,  was  organist  of  Trinity  College, 
and  also  to  the  University  of  Cambridge.  Like 
Sir  Arthur  Sullivan,  he  was  a  chorister  of  the  Chapel 
Royal,  St.  James's.  In  1834,  Master  Hopkins,  then 
a  youth  of  sixteen,  in  a  light  blue  jacket-suit  of 
clothes  with  gilt  buttons,"  aspired  to  the  vacant 
organist's  seat  at  Mitcham  Church.  Turle  (then 
organist  of  Westminster  Abbey)  knew  of  this,  and 
one  day  contrived  that  Hopkins  should  play  a  service 
at  Westminster  Abbey  in  the  hearing  of  an  influential 
Mitcham  amateur.  The  competition  took  place,  and 
No.  7  (Hopkins)  was  chosen ;  but  his  sixteen  years, 
to  say  nothing  of  his  '^jacket-suit,"  were  against  him, 
and  the  committee  hesitated.  Then  spoke  up  the 
influential  amateur,  who  quoted  Turle :  "  Tell  them  " 
(the  committee),  ''with  my  compHments,  that  if  they 
fear  to  trust  Hopkins  to  accompany  chants  and 
hymns  at  Mitcham  Church,  Mr.  Turle  does  not 
hesitate  to  trust  him  to  play  services  and  anthems 
at  Westminster  Abbey."  That,  of  course,  settled 
the  question,  and  Hopkins  was  duly  appointed.  After 
Mitcham  he  was  organist  successively  of  St  Peter's, 
Ishngton,  and  St.  Luke's,  Berwick  Street. 


298 


HYMN-TUNE  COMPOSERS. 


On  Sunday,  May  7th,  1843,  Mr.  Hopkins,  at  the 
request  of  the  Benchers,  played  his  first  service  at 
the  Temple  Church.  There  were  a  great  many 
candidates  for  the  post,  but  the  contest  ultimately  lay 
between  him  and  the  late  George  Cooper.  In  the 
following  October,  Mr.  Hopkins,  then  twenty-five, 
was  duly  elected  organist,  and  shortly  afterwards 
choirmaster  as  well.  At  that  time  there  were  but 
three  surpHced  choirs  in  London — St.  Paul's  Cathedral, 
Westminster  Abbey,  and  St.  James's,  Chapel  Royal. 
When  the  beautifully  restored  Temple  Church  was 
reopened  in  1842,  the  Benchers  decided  to  establish 
a  choral  service  in  their  celebrated  fane.  In  the  old 
days,  the  organ  filled  the  arch  befween  the  round 
and  the  square  churches  (it  is  now  in  a  specially 
constructed  chamber  at  the  north  side),  and  the  only 
music  was  that  of  a  mixed  quartet,  who  sat  in  front 
of  the  organ  and  revealed  themselves  by  withdrawing 
a  curtain  as  the  time  for  each  psalm-tune  came  round. 
The  rest  of  the  service  was  said,  not  sung. 

Mr.  Hopkins  soon  revolutionised  the  musical  service, 
which  he  has  raised  to  a  very  high  standard  of 
excellence.  The  singing  of  the  boys  is  faultless,  and 
causes  envy  in  the  breast  of  many  a  choirmaster. 
Every  afternoon  he  spends  an  hour  and  a  half  with 
his  little  men,  practising  with  the  piano  only,  and  on 
Saturdays  there  is  a  full  rehearsal  with  organ  in  the 
church.  Mr.  Curwen  truly  says,  "At  the  Sunday 
service,  the  ear  of  the  listener  is  arrested  by  the 
smoothness  and  blending  of  the  general  effect.    It  is 


DR.  E.  J.  HOPKINS. 


299 


the  purest  art.  Mr.  Hopkins  knows  the  power  of 
soft  music  over  the  emotions,  how  the  spirit  of  the 
worshipper  yields  to  the  still,  small  voice  when 
thunder  and  declamation  fail  to  touch.  With  a  choir 
of  twelve  boys  and  six  men  he  realises  his  ideal  of 
'  quality,  not  quantity. '  " 

Dr.  Hopkins,  who  received  his  degree  from  the 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  is  no  less  famous  as  an 
accompanist  than  as  a  choirmaster.  *'In  accompany- 
ing," he  says,  "the  organ  should  be  the  background ; 
and  the  remedy  for  indecision  and  flattening  in  choirs 
is  not  more  organ,  but  better  choir-training."  In 
this  respect  he  practises  what  he  preaches.  It  is  a 
lesson  to  any  organist  to  listen  to  the  exquisite  taste 
of  the  Temple  organist's  accompaniments  : — varied, 
refined,  illustrative,  delicate,  and  always  in  perfect 
sympathy  with  the  words.  The  chanting  alone  is  worth 
going  many  miles  to  hear — no  gabbling,  every  syllable 
clearly  enunciated,  punctuation  duly  observed,  em- 
phasis natural,  intonation  true,  and  the  accompaniment 
a  model  to  be  imitated. 

As  a  composer  Dr.  Hopkins  is  favourably  known. 
His  anthems,  services,  hymn -tunes,  and  organ  pieces 
are  much  sung  and  played,  and  have  a  high  reputation. 
In  his  compositions  for  the  church  he  favours  the 
warmth  and  emotional  freedom  of  the  modern  style, 
without  altogether  disregarding  the  traditions  of  the 
Enghsh  school  of  church  music.  His  great  desire  is  to 
draw  music  and  words  into  closer  sympathy,  and  not 
allow  the  words  to  be  a  mere  peg  on  which  to  hang 


30O 


HYMN-TUKE  COMPOSERS. 


the  music.  Music/'  he  says,  "should  so  reflect  the 
words  that  a  foreigner,  ignorant  of  our  language,  and 
coming  into  the  church,  should  be  able  to  tell  the 
character  of  the  words  from  the  character  of  the 
music." 

"In  his  h}Tnn-tunes "  ( again  quoting  from  Mr. 
Curwen)  **  Dr.  Hopkins  has  fed  his  taste  upon  the  old 
psalmody,  though  his  tunes  are  many  of  them  modern 
in  character,  and  his  popular  tune  to  '  Saviour,  again 
to  Th}-  dear  Name  we  raise,'  shows  that  he  is  abreast 
of  the  movement  of  the  times."  (This  tune  should 
always  be  sung  in  unison,  with  varying  organ  har- 
monies, as  originally  written  by  the  composer.)  "  It 
is  interesting  in  another  respect.  Dr.  Hopkins  has 
formed  the  design  of  re\'i\-ing  the  old  church  modes  in 
the  construction  of  hymn-tunes.  '  Saviour  again,'  but 
for  one  inflected  note  at  the  end  of  the  second  line,  is 
in  the  MixoLydian  mode — the  mode  of  the  fifth  of  the 
scale — that  in  which  *  Scots,  wha  hae  '  is  composed. 
It  was  designedly  written  in  this  mode  by  Dr.  Hopkins, 
and  the  melody  derives  much  of  its  freshness  and  charm 
from  this  novel  construction." 

Dr.  Hopkins  rightly  objects  to  adaptations  from  the 
great  masters  for  h3'mn-tunes.  "  The  tune,"  he  says, 
"should  be  the  offspring  of  particular  words,  and 
should  be  consecrated  to  them."  In  this  way  he  him- 
self composes,  taking  care  to  write  for  the  h\'mn  as  a 
whole,  and  not  for  the  first  verse  alone.  One  great 
charm  of  his  tunes  is  the  purity  and  singableness  of 
the  inner  parts,  as  well  as  the  melody.     In  many  of 


501 


them  the  alto  or  tenor  part  runs  the  soprano  very  close 
in  point  of  tunefulness.  Happy  are  the  altos  and 
tenors  when  they  have  to  sing  a  tune  by  Hopkins  ! 

Dr.  Hopkins  enjoys  a  high  reputation  as  musical 
editor  of  modern  hymnals.  In  addition  to  his  own 
Temple  Service  Book,  he  has  edited  The  Wesleyan 
Hymn-book,  Free  Church  of  Scotland  Hymnal,  Hymnal 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  Canada^  Church  Praise 
(Presbyterian  Church  of  England),  and  the  Congrega- 
tional Hymnal.  So  that  various  denominations,  in 
different  parts  of  the  world,  reap  the  benefit  of  his 
experience  and  refined  taste.  Mention  must  also  be 
made  of  a  literary  work  of  great  value,  which  is  a 
standard  book  of  reference  on .  the  great  subject  of 
which  it  treats :  The  Organ  :  its  History  and  Construc- 
tion, by  Drs.  E.  F.  Rimbault  and  E.  J.  Hopkins. 
Speaking  of  this  valuable  work,  the  late  Sir  G.  A. 
Macfarren  said,  "  Dr.  Hopkins  has  made  known  what 
might  be  called  the  physiology  of  the  instrument." 

Dr.  Hopkins  has  now  been  organist  of  the  Temple 
Church  for  forty-six  years,  and,  speaking  in  1884,  he 
said,  During  forty-one  years  I  can  hardly  call  to 
mind  more  than  twenty  occasions  of  absence."  Al- 
though past  ''threescore  years  and  ten,"  he  is  still 
active,  and  delights  in  his  congenial  work.  His  many 
friends  will  heartily  wish  that  he  may  live  to  celebrate 
the  jubilee  of  his  organistship  of  the  Temple  Church, 


REV.  J.  B.  DYKES,  M.A.,  Mus.  Doc. 
1823— 1876. 

IT  has  been  said  that  the  tunes  best  suited  for 
congregational  use  are  those  composed  by  amateurs, 
and  not  by  professional  musicians ;  and,  judging  from 
those  so  largely  contributed  by  Dr.  Dykes,  there  appears 
to  be  some  truth  in  the  assertion.  That  "the  shoe- 
maker should  stick  to  his  last"  is  unquestionably  sound 
advice;  and,  as  a  rule,  ministers  are  better  sermon 
makers  than  hymn-tune  manufacturers.  But  whereas 
some  musicians  (not  many,  perhaps)  might  write  and 
deliver  an  excellent  sermon,  a  clergyman  might  be  so 
gifted  as  to  compose  hymn-tunes  which,  by  their 
devotional  fervour  and  fitness  for  worship,  would  excel 
those  produced  by  the  sons  of  Jubal.  Such  a  clergy- 
man-composer there  has  been,  and  he  forms  the  subject 
of  this  sketch. 

John  Bacchus  Dykes  (strange  second  name)  was 
born  at  Hull  on  March  lOth,  1823.  He  was  the 
son  of  Mr.  W.  H.  Dykes,  and  grandson  of  Rev. 
Thomas  Dykes,  LL.B.,  for  many  years  incumbent  of 
St.  John's  Church,  Hull.  His  grandfather  was  a 
strict  Evangelical  of  the  old  school,  whose  views  in 
matters   theological   contrasted   strongly  with  those 


REV.  J,  B.  DYKES. 


303 


subsequently  held  by  his  musical  grandson.  Both 
grandfather  and  grandson  have  found  a  place  in  that 
literary  Walhalla,  Mr.  Leslie  Stephen's  Dictionary  of 
National  Biography. 

As  a  child  John  Dykes  showed  a  remarkable  talent 
for  music,  which  seemed  to  come  to  him  by  instinct. 
He  really  needed  little  instruction,  and  could  catch  any 
air  or  play  from  ear  long  before  he  was  able  to  play 
from  note.  At  the  early  age  of  ten  he  was  accustomed 
to  play  the  organ  in  his  grandfather's  church  at  Hull ; 
and  it  is  stated  that  one  of  the  greatest  punishments 
which  could  be  inflicted  upon  him  was  to  debar  him  for 
a  time  from  his  favourite  pastime  of  organ-playing. 
This  was  always  in  after  years  one  of  his  greatest 
delights,  and  those  who  heard  him  extemporise  on 
the  instrument,  or  accompany  the  service  in  his  own 
pecuhar,  delicate  way,  will  scarcely  forget  the  charm 
which  he  seldom  failed  to  throw  over  them. 

In  October  1843,  the  age  of  twenty,  he  matricu- 
lated at  St.  Catherine's  Hall,  Cambridge,  and  a  few 
weeks  after  was  elected  Yorkshire  scholar  of  his 
college.  Previous  to  his  arrival  at  Cambridge,  a  small 
musical  society  had  been  formed  at  Peterhouse,  and  this 
was  shortly  afterwards  merged  into  a  larger  one,  called 
the  Cambridge  University  Musical  Society,  of  which 
Mr.  Dykes  and  Sir  William  Thompson,  F.R.S.,  were  the 
leading  members.  Mr.  Dykes  was  unanimously  chosen 
conductor  of  the  society,  and  under  his  able  manage- 
ment it  very  greatly  prospered.  The  founders  of  the 
society  had  probably  little  idea  what  an  important  place 


304 


HYMN-TUNE  COMPOSERS. 


it  would  assume  amongst  English  musical  institutions, 
or  foresee  the  good  work  it  would  do  for  high-class 
music  in  this  country.  An  account  of  the  first  concert 
of  the  society,  on  May  1st,  1844,  is  interesting  and 
amusing.  Haydn's  Surprise  "  symphony  was  per- 
formed. Then  Mr.  Dykes,  who  also  presided  during 
the  evening  at  the  piano,  sang  a  pretty  little  ballad, 
which,  we  believe,  was  his  own  composition.  Most 
deservedly  was  he  encored,  when  he  threw  the  whole 
room  into  fits  of  laughter  by  an  imitation  of  John  Parry 
in  two  of  his  humorous  songs.  The  whole  style  of 
this  gentleman's  performances  stamps  him  at  once  as  a 
thorough  musician." 

For  the  undergraduate  singer  of  comic  songs  to 
develop  into  the  learned  theologian  and  composer  of 
devotional  hymn-tunes  is  a  species  of  evolution  some- 
what strange,  but  nevertheless  true.  His  musical 
attainments  caused  him  to  be  much  sought  after  by 
both  Town  and  Gown,  though,  to  his  credit  be  it  said, 
he  did  not  neglect  his  studies.  The  amount  of  steady 
reading  he  accomplished  was  extraordinary.  Though 
he  had  to  prepare  his  college  lectures,  as  well  as  his 
work  for  his  private  tutor,  he  always  found  time  daily 
for  a  certain  amount  of  exegetical  and  devotional  study 
of  the  New  Testament  and  the  Psalms.  And  even  so 
early  in  life,  he  was  very  fond  of  striving  to  unravel 
the  mysterious  prophecies  contained  in  the  books  of 
Daniel  and  the  Revelation.  Newton  on  the  Prophecies 
he  looked  upon  as  a  sort  of  relaxation  from  harder 
study,  just  as  in  after  life  the  composition  of  hymn- 


REV.  /.  B.  DYKES.  305 

tunes  and  other  sacred  music  was  felt  by  him  as  a 
great  reUef  from  his  parochial  and  other  arduous 
duties.  The  delight  he  found  in  meditating  on  these 
books  of  Holy  Scripture  has  been  fully  shown  by  some 
of  the  learned  papers  he  wrote  in  the  Ecclesiastic^  from 
the  year  1852  until  he  undertook  the  charge  of  the 
parish  of  St.  Oswald,  Durham. 

In  January  1847  John  Dykes  took  his  B.A.  degree 
in  Honours,  being  classed  among  the  Senior  Optimes. 
He  was  ordained  deacon  by  the  Archbishop  of  York 
in  the  same  year,  and  licensed  to  the  curacy  of  Malton. 
In  1848  he  took  priest's  orders.  In  July  1849  he 
was  appointed  by  the  Dean  and  Chapter  of  Durham 
to  be  Minor  Canon  and  Precentor.  This  was  due 
to  his  musical  skill  and  his  success  as  conductor  at 
Cambridge.  He  found  matters  at  Durham  in  a 
neglected  state.  A  collection  of  chants  was  in  use 
which  paid  no  regard  to  the  character  of  the  Psalms,  and 
which  led  to  the  singing  of  jubilant  words  to  plaintive 
music,  and  vice  versa.  He  took  the  greatest  interest 
in  his  new  ofhce.  Its  duties  were  not  heavy,  and 
he  had  leisure  to  devote  himself  to  composition.  He 
began  his  more  important  musical  works  by  contri- 
buting an  anthem,  ''These  are  they  which  came  out 
of  great  tribulation "  (for  All  Saints'  Day),  to  the 
late  Sir  Frederick  Ouseley's  collection  of  anthems  for 
special  occasions.  And  for  use  in  the  cathedral  he 
wrote  a  burial  service  and  other  music.  This  was  also 
a  most  productive  period  in  regard  to  hymn  tunes. 

In  1850  Mr.  Dykes  married.    Of  his  family  of  six 

20 


3o6 


HYMN-TUNE  COMPOSERS. 


children,  one  of  his  sons,  Mr.  John  A.  Dykes,  has 
studied  music  under  Madame  Schumann,  and  has  made 
a  successful  appearance  in  public  as  a  pianist  and 
composer. 

In  1 86 1  the  University  of  Durham  conferred  upon 
Mr.  Dykes  the  degree  of  Mus.  Doc.  in  recognition 
of  his  musical  talent.  In  1862  he  was  presented  by 
the  Dean  and  Chapter  to  the  Vicarage  of  St.  Oswald's, 
a  parish  church  in  Durham.  Here  for  fourteen  years 
he  discharged  his  duties  with  an  earnestness  and 
love  that  won  for  him  the  affection  of  many  and  the 
respect  of  all  who  came  into  contact  with  him.  A 
local  obituary  notice  records,  The  parish  has  lost  one 
of  the  most  kind,  generous,  and  hard-working  pastors 
that  has  ever  presided  over  a  flock.  He  was  a  model 
parish  minister." 

Life  was  not  all  smooth  and  peaceful,  however. 
As  already  stated,  Dr.  Dykes  belonged  by  descent 
to  the  Evangelical  party  in  the  Church  of  England  ; 
but  during  his  University  career  the  Oxford  move- 
ment was  in  progress,  and  it  had  penetrated  the 
sister  University.  The  sermons  of  Dr.  Mill  and 
the  lectures  of  Professor  Blunt  on  the  duties  of  a 
parish  priest  made  a  deep  impression  upon  the 
scholarlike  and  theological  mind  of  the  young  student, 
and  he  adopted  the  views  of  the  new  school.  Through 
life  he  maintained  them  with,  if  possible,  increasing 
fervour,  and  valued  highly  the  advanced  ceremonial 
so  characteristic  of  High  Church  services.  Dr.  Dykes' 
ritualism  provoked  the  displeasure  of  his  Bishop,  who 


REV.  /.  B.  DYKES.       '  307 

prosecuted  him  in  the  Ecclesiastical  Courts.  The 
Bishop  further  refused  to  Hcense  him  a  curate,  so  he 
strove  single-handed  to  supply  to  his  people  all  the 
ministrations  to  which  they  had  been  previously 
accustomed  when  he  had  the  assistance  of  a  curate 
to  share  his  work.  Under  the  weight  of  this  labour 
and  the  deep  anxiety  which  it  entailed,  he  completely 
broke  down.  He  went  to  St.  Leonards  to  recover, 
but  died  there  on  January  20th,  1876. 

At  his  death  a  Memorial  Fund "  for  the  benefit 
of  his  family  was  started,  and  in  response  over 
^10,000  was  contributed,  a  proof  of  the  extent  to 
which  his  beautiful  tunes  had  touched  the  hearts 
of  the  nation.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Allon,  a  well-known 
Nonconformist  minister,  who  could  hardly  be  expected 
to  sympathise  with  Dr.  Dykes'  ritual,  wrote,  I  shall 
deem  it  a  great  privilege  to  contribute,  as  an  expres- 
sion of  common  gratitude  for  his  rich  and  precious 
contributions  to  the  worship-song  of  almost  all  English- 
speaking  congregations." 

Dr.  Dykes'  character  was  very  sweet  and  attrac- 
tive. His  daughter  says,  His  nature  was  bright, 
sunny,  and  jo3  0us,  and  he  had  a  power  of  making 
friends,  inspiring  ardent  friendships.  He  was  a  most 
amusing  and  delightful  companion,  and  one  whom 
all  loved  and  courted.  His  great  charm  was,  however, 
his  deep  and  most  sincere  religion.  This  seemed  to 
be  the  hidden  spring  of  all  his  outer  Hfe." 

Dr.  Dykes  wrote  upwards  of  two  hundred  and  fifty 
hymn-tunes   and    carols,    which    have    appeared  in 


3o8 


HYMN-TUNE  COMPOSERS, 


various  hymnals.  Many  of  his  best  tunes  seem  to 
have  come  to  the  words  to  which  they  were  composed 
as  inspirations,  and  for  this  reason  he  always  preferred 
keeping  them  to  these.  He  used  to  write  them  quite 
independently  of  the  piano,  sometimes  during  a 
solitary  walk,  or  in  a  railway  train.  The  tune  to 
"Hark,  hark,  my  soul"  was  composed  as  he  was 
ascending  Skiddaw.  His  children  often  used  to  sing 
over  some  of  his  new  tunes  on  Sunday  evening,  and  not 
unfrequently  their  critical  suggestions  were  adopted. 
He  used  to  say  that  he  always  made  a  practice  of 
offering  some  short  prayer  before  writing  anything. 

Dr.  Dykes  may  well  be  called  the  Apostle  of  the  modern 
hymn-tune.  The  old  tunes,  such  as  Melcombe," 
London  New,"  etc.,  have  a  rigidity  about  them  which 
is  in  strong  contrast  to  the  warmth  and  deep  feeling 
of,  for  instance.  Dr.  Dykes'  "  Hark,  my  soul,  it  is 
Lord,"  or  ''The  King  of  Love  my  Shepherd  is." 

''Dr.  Dykes'  tunes,"  wrote  his  friend  Sir  Henry 
Baker,  "are  just  like  himself;  he  was  so  full  of 
feeling,  so  gentle,  so  unselfish."  They  are  so  well 
known  and  universally  loved  that  it  is  not  necessary 
to  enlarge  upon  their  beauties.  They  are  for  the  most 
part  very  congregational.  In  fact,  the  present  writer's 
experience  in  congregational  singing  at  three  large 
churches  in  London  is  that  they  are  more  heartily 
and  feelingly  sung  than  those  of  any  other  composer. 
Dr.  Dykes  was  a  great  advocate  of  congregational 
singing,  and  often  urged  it  in  his  sermons. 

Many  of  our  most  popular  tunes  are  by  him.    "  Hark, 


REV.  J.  B,  DYKES. 


30 


my  soul,  it  is  the  Lord " — notice  how  happily  the 
dotted  notes  accent  important  words;  '*Jesu,  Lover 
of  my  soul" — how  tenderly  it  breathes  the  spirit  of 
Wesley's  hymn  ;  "  Fierce  raged  the  tempest  " — with 
its  change  from  the  surging  C  minor  opening  to  the 
"calm  and  still"  close  in  E  flat;  ''The  day  is  past 
and  over" — how  soothing  and  restful  the  feeling  it 
produces;  and  many  others  are  equally  beautiful  and 
full  of  tenderness. 

Mention  must  be  made  of  a  most  beautiful  setting 
of  Ellerton's  funeral  hymn,  Now  the  labourer's  task 
is  done/'  which  is  touchingly  pathetic,  and  when  sung 
for  the  first  time  by  a  large  congregation  in  London 
was  known  to  bring  tears  to  the  eyes  of  many  of  the 
worshippers.  Another  favourite  tune  must  also  be 
referred  to,  ''  Eternal  Father,  strong  to  save,"  one 
of  the  most  popular  of  all,  in  which  the  hymn  "  for 
those  at  sea"  has  a  perfect  setting.  In  the  last  line 
but  one  of  each  verse  the  inflected  note  (F  sharp) 
gives  to  the  word  "  cry "  a  piercing  and  plaintive 
emphasis,  and  yet  its  introduction  seems  so  natural 
and  unrestrained. 

Dr.  Dykes  wrote  a  fine  setting  of  the  Te  Deum  in 
the  key  of  F,  which  is  not  only  admirably  suited 
for  congregational  singing,  but,  Hke  all  his  church 
music,  is  worthy  of  the  great  hymn  to  which  it  is  set. 

Let  all  lovers  of  church  music  be  thankful  for  the 
labours  of  one  who  has  provided  so  much  that  is 
beautiful,  melodious,  and  inspiring  in  the  service  of 
song  in  the  house  of  the  Lord. 


WILLIAM   HENRY   MONK,   Mus.  Doc. 


1823— 1889. 


YMNS  Ancient  and  Modern  is  known  wherever 


twenty-seven  million  copies  have  been  sold  since  its 
first  issue  in  the  year  186 1.  What  has  been  the  cause 
of  such  extraordinary  popularity  ?  Surel}^  not  its 
doctrinal  points,  for  we  find  the  book  in  nearly  every 
home  among  Nonconformists,  who  would  have  little 
sympathy  with  its  theological  tenets.  May  it  not  lie  in 
the  excellence  of  its  music  rather  than  in  the  merits  or 
demerits  of  its  theology  ?  Although  of  making  many 
hymnals  there  seems  to  be  no  end,  yet  Hymns  Ancient 
and  Modern  remains  unapproachable  from  the  musical 
point  of  view,  whether  considered  practically  or  aestheti- 
cally. The  responsibilities  of  the  musical  editor  of  this 
hymnal  must  have  been  very  great.  To  learn  what 
kind  of  man  he  was,  let  us  take  a  brief  glimpse  into  his 
life  and  work. 

William  Henry  Monk  was  born  at  Brompton,  London, 
in  1823.  His  first  musical  impressions  were  derived 
from  the  concerts  of  the  Sacred  Harmonic  Society,  at 
which  for  many  years  he  was  a  constant  attendant. 


the  English  language  is  spoken.    Upwards  of 


DR.   W.  H.  MONK. 


311 


He  studied  music  under  Thomas  Adams  (the  organist 
of  his  day),  J.  A.  Hamilton  (of  dictionary  fame),  and 
G.  A.  Griesbach.  He  was  organist  successively  of 
Eaton  Chapel,  Pimlico ;  St.  George's  Chapel,  Albe- 
marle Street ;  and  Portman  Chapel,  Marylebone.  All 
these  are  chapels-of-ease  belonging  to  the  Church  of 
England.  In  1847  was  appointed  director  of  the 
choir  of  King's  College,  London ;  in  1 849  organist ;  and 
in  1874,  upon  the  resignation  of  John  Hullah,  professor 
of  vocal  music  in  the  college.  Monk  apparently  had 
no  objection  to  pluralities.  In  1852  he  became  organist 
and  choirmaster  of  St.  Matthias,  Stoke  Newington,  and 
he  held  this  appointment  concurrently  with  that  at 
King's  College  till  his  death.  He  was  therefore  "  chief 
musician  "  in  these  two  churches  for  the  long  periods 
of  forty-two  and  thirty-seven  years  respectively. 

Dr.  W.  H.  Monk  (the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Music 
was  conferred  by  the  University  of  Durham)  would 
possibly  have  remained  a  comparatively  unknown 
musician  but  for  one  important  circumstance.  About 
the  year  1&50,  the  influence  of  the  Tractarian  move- 
ment was  rapidly  making  itself  felt  in  the  services  of 
the  Church  of  England.  Many  of  the  clergy  became 
dissatisfied  with  the  existing  hymnals,  and  steps  were 
taken  to  produce  a  hymn-book  which  should  be  accept- 
able to  the  large  and  growing  section  of  the  high  church 
party.  In  1858,  the  late  Sir  Henry  Baker  enlisted  the 
help  of  some  twenty  clergymen,  including  several  who 
had  published  or  projected  similar  works,  and  laid  the 
foundations  of  that  important  hymnal  Hymns  Ancient 


312 


HYMN-TUNE  COMPOSERS. 


and  Modern.  A  working  committee  of  hymnologists 
was  formed,  with  Sir  Henry  Baker  as  chairman,  and 
in  i860  the  first  edition  (words  only)  came  out.  Dr. 
Monk  was  appointed  musical  editor.  He  had  the  sole 
musical  initiative  and  veto  on  the  original  edition,  and 
no  other  musical  counsel  was  called  in  until  the  position 
of  the  book  had  been  made,  and  an  enlarged  edition 
was  called  for  ;  indeed,  Hymns  Ancient  and  Modern  in 
its  early  days  was  often  called  Monk's  book."  The 
first  music  edition  came  out  in  1861. 

The  success  of  the  book  has  been  extraordinary  and 
unprecedented,  and,  in  spite  of  the  inevitable  competi- 
tion of  these  times,  and  the  prejudice  in  some  quarters 
against  its  doctrinal  basis,  it  still  holds  the  field.  An 
average  sale  of  one  million  copies  per  year  since  its 
introduction  is  a  practical  proof  of  its  popularity  and 
fitness  for  congregational  singing. 

Dr.  Monk's  musical  editorship  w^as  not,  however, 
confined  to  the  book  which  made  his  name.  He  com- 
piled a  series  of  tune  and  anthem  books  for  the  Church 
of  Scotland,  and  supervised  the  new  edition  of  Dr. 
Allon's  Congregational  Psalmist.  Moreover,  he  con- 
tributed tunes  to  several  other  hymnals,  so  that  various 
sections  of  the  Church  have  benefited  by  his  sound 
judgment  and  artistic  taste.  Dr.  Monk,  in  addition  to 
being  a  high  churchman,  was  a  strong  purist  in  Church 
music,  and  could  not  tolerate  anything  which  savoured 
of  irreverence  or  secular  influences.  He  had  a  pre- 
ference for  Gregorian  music,  believing  it  to  be  not  only 
ecclesiastically  correct,  but  better  suited  for  congre- 


313 


gational  purposes,  on  account  of  its  simplicity  and  of 
being  sung  in  unison.  At  St.  Matthias  he  had  ample 
opportunity  for  carrying  out  his  views.  He  did  hi  5 
utmost  to  bring  the  musical  part  of  the  Church  service 
within  the  range  of  the  worshipper,  and  refused  to  be 
led  away  by  the  modern  tendency  to  confine  the  music 
to  the  choir.  This  ideal  he  strictly  carried  out  in  every 
bar  he  wrote.  Simple,  devotional,  and  pure  are  stamped 
on  all  his  compositions ;  and  as  he  only  wrote  one  song 
to  secular  words,  his  life  and  works  were  thus  devoted 
to  the  cause  of  congregational  worship-music. 

Dr.  Monk  was  a  singularly  modest  and  reserved 
man,  and  led  a  retired  life.  His  home  ties  were 
strong  and  particularly  sweet.  He  was  fond  of  his 
garden,  and  loved  to  watch  the  growth  of  plants  and 
flowers.  He  had  a  strong  deep  love  for  nature, 
and  was  an  enthusiastic  pedestrian.  His  hymn-tunes, 
of  which  he  must  have  written  nearly  a  hundred,  are 
a  reflex  of  his  home  life;  some  of  them,  such  as 
"Abide  with  me"  and  "Sweet  Saviour,  bless  us  ere 
we  go,"  are  sung  by  Christians  of  many  denominations 
everywhere,  and  are  not  likely  to  be  superseded. 
How  delightful  it  is  to  think  that  music  soars  above  all 
sectarian  differences  !  In  his  hymn-tunes  he  possessed 
such  power  in  fitting  appropriate  music  to  words 
that  it  would  in  many  cases  be  almost  a  sacrilege  to 
dissociate  them.  He  would  sometimes  get  out  of 
his  bed  to  writ-e  down  a  tune.  The  tune  to  O 
perfect  life  of  love "  was  composed  in  this  manner, 
and   that   to     Thou   art   coming,  O  my  Saviour," 


314 


HYMN-TUNE  COMPOSERS. 


was  written  in  a  railway  train.  His  best  known 
tune,  Eventide,"  to  "  Abide  with  me,"  was  composed 
under  peculiar  circumstances.  He  told  a  friend  that 
when  he  (Dr.  Monk)  and  the  late  Sir  Henry  Baker 
were  once  going  out,  they  suddenly  remembered 
that  there  was  no  tune  for  hymn  27,  "Abide  with 
me,"  and  that  he  sat  down,  and,  undisturbed  by  the 
noise  of  a  piano  lesson  which  was  then  going  on, 
wrote  that  excellent  and  popular  tune  in  ten  minutes. 

Dr.  Monk  held  very  strong  opinions  on  the  sacred- 
ness  of  the  church  musician's  office.  He  maintained 
the  principle  of  gravity,  solemnity,  and  reverence  in 
church  music.  He  insisted  on  a  high  conception 
of  the  great  object  of  worship.  Rowland  Hill  used 
to  say  that  it  was  a  pity  the  devil  should  have  all 
the  good  tunes,  and  therefore  did  not  disapprove  of 
adaptations  from  secular  as  well  as  sacred  works. 
This  doctrine  Dr.  Monk  could  not  tolerate;  yet  it 
was  a  strange  irony  of  fate  that  when  his  house  was 
full  of  manuscripts,  offered  by  correspondents  for  in- 
sertion in  Hymns  Ancient  and  Modern,  the  tune  of 
which  he  received  the  greatest  number  of  copies  was 
an  adaptation  of  the  opening  chorus  in  Weber's 
Oherony  sung  by  fairies  as  they  trip  about  the  stage, 
which  is  known  in  many  hymn-books  by  the  name 
of  ^' Weber"  (7s,  in  key  F). 

As  an  organist  Dr.  Monk  held  a  high  place.  He 
once  said  he  did  not  feel  quite  comfortable  on  the 
question  of  organ  recitals  in  churches.  He  held 
that  the  organ  should  only  be  touched  as  an  adjunct 


DR.   W.  H.  MONK. 


to  worship  ;  if  used  as  a  solo  instrument  its  utterances 
must  be  so  solemn  as  to  minister  to  true  religious 
thought.  He  not  only  preached  this  doctrine  but 
practised  it.  "  He  was,"  says  the  Church  Times, 
"a  church  musician  literally  to  his  fingers'  ends,  for 
there  was  no  part  of  his  work  which  so  thoroughly 
manifested  his  real  ability  and  devotion  as  his  organ 
accompaniments.  Solemnity  without  dreariness,  feeling 
without  the  eccentricity  which  so  often  passes  for 
that  quahty, — these  were  the  elements  that  will  always 
be  remembered  as  his  chief  characteristics.  The 
organ  was  to  him  an  instrument,  not  for  the  display 
of  skill,  but  for  touching  the  souls  of  men ;  and 
probably  some  of  the  most  powerful  sermons  preached 
in  St.  Matthias  have  come  from  the  organ  chamber." 
His  vicar,  in  his  memorial  sermon,  said,  He  had 
wonderful  power  in  playing  our  devotional  hymns. 
He  could  make  a  single  word  speak  with  a  deep 
pathos.  At  times  he  appeared  under  a  kind  of 
inspiration,  the  infection  of  which  touched  the  hearts 
of  all.  He  taught  many  to  praise  God  who  had 
never  praised  Him  before ;  he  taught  others  to  praise 
Him  more  worthily  than  hitherto." 

Dr.  Monk  was  a  truly  just  and  good  man,  and  died 
literally  in  harness  on  March  ist,  1889,  deeply  loved 
and  much  lamented. 

The  following  advice  which  he  once  wrote  to  a  near 
and  dear  friend  is  full  of  wisdom,  and  may  fitly  close 
this  brief  record  of  his  career  : — "  Two  things  I  would 
wish  to  say  to  you  :  i.  Be  honest  in  your  convictions 


3i6 


HYMN-TUNE  COMPOSERS, 


and  act  up  to  them.  2.  Believe  others  who  may  differ 
in  opinion  or  in  action  to  be  the  same.  As  far  as  I  know 
*  the  world/  the  great  sin  towards  others  is  the  con- 
trary of  (2),  and  the  imputation  of  motives.  There  are 
times  when  you  hardly  know  what  to  do  yourselves, 
and  are  anxious  for  and  pray  for  guidance.  Believe 
that  others  do  the  like  ;  and,  above  all,  have  '  fervent 
charity  among  yourselves.'  " 


SIR  JOHN   STAINER,  M.A.,  Mus.  Doc. 
1840— 


HE  little  chorister  who  became  organist  of  his 


J-  cathedral,  and  was  afterwards  made  a  knight," 
woLild  be  an  appropriate  sub-title  for  one  of  those 
"very  nice"  little  books  written  for  the  purpose  of 
inculcating  lessons  of  perseverance  into  the  youthful 
mind.  Yet  this  is  the  true  life-story  of  the  eminent 
musician  whose  name  appears  above.  Such  a  pleasing 
outline  suggests  pleasanter  "  fillings  in,"  full  of  interest 
to  lovers  of  sacred  music.  We  have  stretched  the 
canvas,  and  the  figuration  now  proceeds. 

John  Stainer,  son  of  a  schoolmaster,  w^as  born  in 
London,  June  6th,  1840.  He  became  a  chorister 
in  St.  Paul's  Cathedral  when  only  seven  years  old  : 
at  that  age,  however,  he  could  already  play  Bach's 
fugue  in  E  major,  and  the  overture  to  Acis  and 
Galatea,  besides  being  no  mean  performer  on  the 
organ.  He  sang  solos  at  St.  Paul's  till  after  he  was 
sixteen,  with  the  result  that  when  he  entered  manhood 
he  had  '"'no  more  voice  than  a  crow."  At  the  age  of 
fourteen  he  was  appointed  organist  and  choirmxaster 
of  St.  Benedict  and  St.  Peter's,  Paul's  Wharf.  Through 


3i8  HYMN-TUNE  COMPOSERS. 

the  liberality  of  Miss  Hackett,  the  choristers*  friend,  he 
received  a  course  of  lessons  on  the  organ  from  George 
Cooper  at  St.  Sepulchre's.  At  the  same  time,  he 
learned  harmony  from  Mr.  Bayley,  master  of  St.  Paul's 
boys,  and  counterpoint  from  Dr.  Steggall,  who  delights 
in  telling  the  following  incident  in  connection  with  his 
gifted  pupil.  In  1852  Dr.  (then  Mr.)  Steggall  took 
his  degree  at  Cambridge,  and  it  is  the  custom  for  the 
musical  exercise  for  the  Doctor's  degree  to  be  performed 
before  the  University.  Dr.  Steggall  asked  Mr.  Bayley 
(of  St.  Paul's)  to  send  him  one  of  his  boys  to  sing  the 
solo  part  at  Cambridge.  He  sent  a  bright-faced,  curly- 
headed  little  fellow,  who  charmed  his  hearers  by  taking 
a  top  C  as  clear  as  a  bell.  "  That  boy,"  says  Dr. 
Steggall,  with  a  radiant  smile,  ''was  John  Stainer." 

Young  Stainer  at  this  time,  though  still  a  chorister, 
used  often  to  take  the  organ  at  St.  Paul's.  One  day 
both  Goss  and  Cooper,  the  organist  and  deputy,  were 
absent,  and  Chorister  Stainer  was  officiating  at  the 
organ.  "  It  was  a  fortunate  thing  for  me,"  he  says, 
"that  these  great  lights  were  extinguished  for  the 
day.  The  late  Sir  Frederick  Ouseley  had  come  to  ask 
whether  either  of  them  could  recommend  a  young 
organist  for  his  recently  founded  college  at  Tenbury, 
and  he  came  up  into  the  organ-loft,  where  he  found  me 
getting  on  very  comfortably,  and  so,  in  the  evening  of 
that  day,  he  wrote  me  a  very  kind  letter,  asking  if  I 
would  play  his  organ."  The  invitation  was  accepted,  and 
his  work  at  Tenbury,  where  the  late  Sir  F.  Ouseley 
possessed  the  finest  musical  Ubrary  in  the  world,  was 


SIR  JOHN  STAINER.  319 

not  only  very  congenial  but  most  valuable  to  the 
young  musician. 

His  boy  friend,  Arthur  Sullivan,  a  chorister  at  the 
Chapel  Royal,  paid  a  visit  to  Tenbury  at  the  time  Sir 
F.  Ouseley  was  putting  up  a  large  and  fine  organ  in 
his  church  and  experimenting  in  pipes,  pneumatic 
apparatus,  etc.  Stainer  and  Sullivan  got  the  idea 
that  guttapercha  would  make  a  cheap  and  resonant 
substance  for  organ  pipes  !  Guttapercha  was  scarce, 
and  their  financial  resources  limited,  but  they  got 
together  a  few  old  guttapercha  shoes,  and  set  to 
work  with  ardent  enthusiasm.  To  their  great  regret 
they  were  stopped  in  their  experiments,  because  the 
horrible  smell  which  they  made  poisoned  the  whole 
building,  and  Sir  Frederick  arrested  them  in  the  initiative 
stage.  But  they  could  not  help  thinking  that  there  was 
a  bit  of  jealousy  in  his  prohibition  of  their  inventive 
faculties  ! 

His  promotion  in  the  profession  was  very  rapid. 
He  remained  at  Tenbury  only  three  years,  and  in  1859, 
at  the  age  of  nineteen,  became  organist  of  Magdalen 
College,  Oxford,  after  six  months'  trial.  In  the  same 
year  he  had  matriculated  at  Christ  Church,  Oxford,  and 
taken  the  degree  of  Mus.  Bac.  He  then  entered  at 
Edmund  Hall  as  a  resident  undergraduate,  and,  while 
discharging  his  duties  at  Magdalen,  worked  for  his 
B.A.  degree,  which  he  took  in  Trinity  term  1863. 

Meantime  he  had  been  appointed  organist  to  the 
University,  and  was  conductor  of  a  flourishing  College 
Musical  Society  and  of  another  association  at  Exeter 


320 


HYMN-TUNE  COMPOSERS. 


College.     But  nothing  interfered  with  his  duties  a 
Magdalen,  where  he  raised  the  choir  to  a  very  high 
state  of  efficiency.     In   1865   he  proceeded  to  his 
Mus.  Doc.  degree,  and  in  the  following  year  to  M.A. 

Dr.  Stainer's  name  will  long  be  remembered  in 
Oxford  as  the  founder  of  the  Philharmonic  Society, 
and  as  the  reviver  of  the  Choral  Society,  both  of 
which  still  exist  and  remain  in  a  flourishing  con- 
dition. 

It  is  with  expressions  of  gratitude  that  he  speaks  of 
the  kindness  he  received  from  everybody  in  Oxford, 
not  only  from  fellow-musicians,  but  also  from  the 
college  dons.  It  must  have  been  particularly  gratifying 
to  him  to  know  that  his  efforts  for  the  better  cultivation 
of  music  were  thoroughly  appreciated.  A  substantial 
recognition  of  his  zeal,  taking  the  form  of  a  magnificent 
suite  of  Sevres  ornaments,  now  adorns  his  drawing- 
room  mantelpiece ;  and  to  this  testimonial  the  whole 
college,  from  dons  to  undergraduates,  subscribed. 

Dr.  Stainer's  next  step  in  life — at  the  age  of  thirty- 
two — -was  of  no  ordinary  kind,  being  his  unsolicited 
appointment  as  organist  of  St.  Paul's  Cathedral,  the 
largest  church  of  the  largest  city  in  the  world.  It  is 
possible  that  his  selection  may  have  been  partly  due 
to  his  old  association  with  St.  Paul's  as  a  chorister  ; 
but  undoubtedly  it  mainly  arose  from  the  fact  that  an 
active  administrator  as  well  as  a  musician — one,  too, 
who  was  versed  in  modern  music — was  sorely  needed. 
Under  his  predecessor.  Sir  John  Goss,  the  general 
choral  music  had  arrived  at  a  crippled,  if  not  moribund 


SIR  JOHN  STAINER. 


321 


condition,  owing  chiefly  to  the  lack  of  interest  shown 
in  the  music  by  the  Cathedral  authorities.  Goss  made 
frequent  attempts  to  improve  the  services,  but  he  was 
too  tender-hearted,  and  not  sufficiently  tenacious  of  his 
purpose.  Two  stories  will  illustrate  his  difficulties. 
Sydney  Smith,  the  wit,  when  Canon  at  the  cathedral, 
caused  some  difficulty  by  saying  one  day,  "  Mr.  Goss, 
about  that  chant  this  morning."  "  The  minor  one,  do 
you  mean,  sir  ?  "  said  Goss.  Yes.  Have  no  more 
minor  chants,  and  no  more  minor  music,  while  I  am 
in  residence,  if  you  please."  Whereupon  Goss  ex- 
plained the  importance  of  the  minor  key,  and  that 
much  of  the  best  music  was  written  in  that  way.  But 
Sydney  Smith  was  inexorable,  and  no  more  minor 
music  was  given.  After  a  time  the  order  was  with- 
drawn, but  only  reluctantly.  Goss  received  the  follow- 
ing letter  :  "  Mr.  Goss, — Since  you  make  it  a  point  of 
conscience  to  have  music  in  the  minor  key,  I  give 
way. — Sydney  Smith."  Another  story  told  of  him  in 
connection  with  the  same  Canon  was  respecting  the 
organ.  Goss  pointed  out  that  the  organ  was  getting 
very  antiquated,  and  needed  improvements  in  stops, 
etc.,  as  it  certainly  did  in  those  days.  Sydney  Smith 
only  said,  You  have  a  bull  stop  and  a  tom-tit  stop, 
and  what  on  earth  more  do  you  want  ?  " 

Dr.  Stainer  came  as  a  reformer.  He  received  strong 
support  from  the  Dean  and  Chapter  in  the  work  of  re- 
organisation. Moreover,  he  possessed  a  large  reserve 
of  tact,  an  essential  qualification  in  the  management  of 
a  choir;  and  very  soon   St.  Paul's  became  as  con^ 

21 


322 


HYMN-TUNE  COMPOSERS. 


spicuous  for  the  high  character  and  attractiveness  of 
its  musical  services  as  it  had  formerly  been  for  their 
dulness  and  slovenliness.  The  music  at  St.  Paul's 
has  been  part  of  a  great  revival  in  things  pertaining 
to  worship  music,  and  it  has  exerted  an  influence  that 
has  been  felt  throughout  the  kingdom.  Dr.  Stainer, 
like  every  organist  who  is  well  supported  by  his  choir, 
has  been  much  indebted  to  his  excellent  singers,  though 
he  says,  "  Often  at  the  close  of  a  very  beautiful  anthem  or 
creed,  I  have  been  more  incHned  to  say,  *  Thank  God,' 
than  '  Thank  you,  gentlemen  of  the  choir.'  "  The  thanks 
of  all  lovers  of  sacred  music  are  due  to  Dr.  Stainer 
for  introducing  into  St.  Paul's  oratorios  with  the 
accompaniment  of  a  full  orchestra.  Those  who  have 
heard  Bach's  Passion  or  Mendelssohn's  St.  Pauly 
sung  to  vast  congregations  filling  the  great  cathedral, 
will  not  easily  forget  the  effect  of  such  sublime  music 
so  beautifully  rendered  amidst  such  appropriate  sur- 
roundings. 

After  sixteen  years'  splendid  service  in  the  Metro- 
politan Cathedral,  Dr.  Stainer  resigned  his  appointment 
in  1888,  owing  to  impaired  eyesight.  Nothing  but 
universal  satisfaction  was  expressed  when  the  Queen 
conferred  upon  him  the  honour  of  knighthood  at 
Windsor,  on  July  lOth,  1888. 

Sir  John  Stainer's  constant  engagements  for  many 
years  have  left  him  little  time  for  composition.  How- 
ever, he  has  already  written  sufficient  to  make  his 
name  memorable  as  a  composer ;  and  now  that  he  is 
enjoying  comparative  leisure  at  his  home  at  Oxford, 


SIJ^  JOHN  STAINER. 


323 


he  will  not  have  just  cause  or  impediment  for  neglect- 
ing his  awakening  muse. 

Sir  John's  compositions  have  been  almost  entirely 
sacred.  His  anthems — e.g.^  "Lead,  kindly  Light/'  an  ex- 
quisite setting  of  Cardinal  Newman's  words ;  the  bright 
Christmas  anthem,  "The  morning  stars  sang  together," 
written  in  his  nineteenth  year;  and  the  well-known 
and  effective  "  What  are  these  ?  " — are  all  imbued 
with  deep  devotional  fervour  and  skilful  musicianship. 
His  services — in  E  flat  and  A — are  performed  to 
enraptured  congregations  wherever  choral  services  are 
known,  whether  in  England,  in  the  Colonies,  or  in 
America.  His  cantata,  "  The  daughter  of  Jairus,"  is 
full  of  pathos  and  beauty,  and  is  the  delight  of  choral 
singers  everywhere ;  and  a  subsequent  work,  "  St. 
Mary  Magdalen,"  is  strikingly  descriptive.  Mention 
must  be  made  of  the  "  Crucifixion,"  a  setting  of  the 
Passion-music  within  the  capabilities  of  church  choirs, 
and  with  organ  accompaniment  only.  The  writer  will 
not  easily  forget  the  solemn  effect  of  this  beautiful 
music  at  its  first  performance  in  Marylebone  Church, 
when  it  was  conducted  by  the  composer. 

Sir  John  Stainer  is  a  good  Hebrew  scholar :  so  it  is 
singularly  appropriate  that  he  should  write  The  Music 
of  the  Bible  (Cassell  &  Co.),  a  book  which  is  full  of 
interest  to  all  students  of  sacred  music.  His  hymn- 
tunes,  though  not  very  numerous,  are  very  good.  His 
setting  of  Keble's  "  Hail,  gladdening  light,"  "  Holy 
Father,  cheer  our  way,"  "There  is  a  blessed  home," 
etc.,  breathe  the  spirit  of  devotion,  and  are  thoroughly 


324 


HYMN-TUNE  COMPOSERS. 


congregational.  Sir  John,  although  accustomed  to  a 
cathedral  service  all  his  life,  is  much  interested  in 
hymn-tunes.  He  thinks  that  all  our  hymn-singing  is 
much  too  fast,  and,  in  large  churches  especially,  that 
slowness  should  be  cultivated.  He  thinks  the  clergy  are 
much  to  blame  in  this  matter  for  not  permitting  their 
organists,  as  is  frequently  the  case,  to  use  their  own 
judgments  in  determining  the  proper  rate  of  speed.  He 
says  that  each  tune  has  its  own  particular  tempo y 
depending  upon  its  date  and  its  special  characteristics, 
and  that  it  would  be  just  as  absurd  to  insist  on  singing 
all  Schumann's  songs  at  one  and  the  same  speed  as  to 
do  so  with  all  hymn-tunes.  Speaking  at  the  Musical 
Association  on  the  subject  of  modern  hymn-tunes,  he 
said :  ''The  fact  of  the  matter  is,  that  a  very  large  number 
of  them  are  very  weak  and  sentimental ;  but  on  behalf 
of  composers — and  being  one  of  the  humble  scribblers  of 
tunes  myself  occasionally — I  must  say  that  tune-writers 
are  very  much  at  the  mercy  of  the  writers  of  words.  If 
you  give  a  man  a  stupid,  sentimental  subject,  it  is 
impossible  that  he  can  sit  down  and  rise  to  the  occa- 
sion, and  turn  out  a  tune  of  strength  and  dignity.  It 
is  a  very  difficult  thing  to  write  a  good  hymn-tune.  I 
have  had  many  thousands  pass  through  my  hands 
when  I  worked  with  Dr.  Monk  and  the  late  Dr.  Dykes 
in  the  revision  of  Hymns  Ancient  and  Modern.  We 
vorked  very  hard,  and  it  gave  me  a  great  insight  into 
hymn-tunes.  I  think  very  few  editors  can  tell,  sitting 
in  their  room,  or  even  playing  it  on  the  pianoforte, 
what  will  be  the  success  of  a  tune.    I  have  long  given 


SII!  JOHN  STAINER. 


325 


up  hopes  of  being  able  to  decide  it.  It  is  like  the  old 
Latin  proverb,  solvitur  ambulando.  You  must  put  it 
into  the  mouth  of  the  people,  and  see  if  it  answers 
when  it  is  used  ;  there  is  no  other  test.  ...  As  re- 
gards passing  notes,  I  think,  although  I  am  a  great 
Radical  in  some  things,  I  am  very  conservative  in 
others,  and  I  am  often  very  sorry  to  find  the  old  notes 
and  twists  that  my  dear  mother  used  to  sing  to  me 
are  turned  out  of  such  tunes  as  '  Rockingham  '  and 
'  Wareham.'  When  we  have  them  in  St.  Paul's,  I 
hear  a  number  of  the  congregation  putting  them  in 
just  as  they  used  to  do  in  old  days." 

Although  Sir  John  Stainer's  name  is  chiefly  asso- 
ciated with  his  good  work  at  St.  Paul's,  he  has  held 
important  public  offices.  He  was  principal  of  the 
National  Training  College  for  Music,  and  organist  to 
the  Albert  Hall  (now  Royal)  Choral  Society.  He  has 
been  decorated  with  the  French  Legion  d^honneur,  and 
is  Her  Majesty's  Inspector  of  Music  in  the  Education 
Department.  In  July  1889,  he  was  appointed  Professor 
of  Music  in  the  University  of  Oxford  (in  succession 
to  the  late  Sir  Frederick  Ouseley) ;  a  well-deserved 
honour,  which  practically  places  him  at  the  head  of  his 
profession  in  this  country. 

As  an  organ  accompanist  Sir  John  is  unrivalled.  It 
is  a  source  of  regret  with  his  brother  organists  in 
London  that  his  retirement  from  St.  Paul's  deprives 
them  of  the  pleasure  and  privilege  of  listening  to  his 
masterly  treatment  of  the  organ  in  accompanying  the 
Cathedral  services.     As  a  man  he  is  beloved  and 


326 


HYMN-TUNE  COMPOSERS, 


esteemed  by  all  who  know  him.  "  He  is  the  most 
perfect  gentleman  that  comes  into  this  place/'  once 
remarked  a  music-seller's  assistant  to  the  writer.  "  A 
thoroughly  good-hearted,  genial,  splendid  fellow,"  is 
the  verdict  of  all  who  come  in  contact  with  him,  and 
right  well  he  deserves  it.  Long  may  he  be  spared  to 
further  enrich  our  store  of  sacred  music. 

We  conclude  with  a  story.  At  the  recent  (1889) 
annual  gathering  of  the  College  of  Organists,  the 
President,  a  distinguished  organist  and  musician, 
addressing  his  fellow-organists,  said :  "I  was  one 
Sunday  walking  at  some  seaside  place,  and  on 
turning  a  corner  I  heard  a  number  of  Sunday  School 
children  singing  a  hymn  I  had  composed.  I  thought 
to  myself,  *  I  want  no  higher  reward  than  this  for 
all  my  work.'  I  can  only  tell  you  that  I  would  not 
exchange  it  for  the  very  finest  monument  in  West- 
minster Abbey."  The  man  who  can  give  utterance 
to  such  sentiments  as  these  is  a  great  man,  and 
draws  out  our  esteem,  our  respect,  our  love.  The 
speaker  was  none  other  than  Sir  John  Stainer. 


SIR  ARTHUR  SULLIVAN. 


1842 — 

RTHUR  SEYMOUR  SULLIVAN,  the  son  of  a 


At  the  age  of  eleven  he  became  one  of  the  children  of  the 
Chapel  Royal,  St.  James's.  "His  voice  was  very  sweet," 
says  the  Rev.  Thomas  Helmore,  master  of  the  children, 
''and  his  style  of  singing  far  more  sympathetic  than 
that  of  most  boys."  During  his  choristership  he  wrote 
several  anthems,  one  of  which  was  sung  at  an  ordinary 
service,  and  so  pleased  the  Dean  (also  Bishop  of  London) 
that  he  sent  for  the  youthful  composer  to  come  into  the 
vestry  after  the  service,  and  rewarded  him  by  patting 
his  black  curly  head  to  the  accompaniment  of  half-a- 
sovereign.  One  of  the  friends  of  his  boyhood  was  John 
(now  Sir  John)  Stainer,  at  that  time  a  chorister  at  St. 
Paul's  Cathedral.  The  two  lads  when  off  duty  were  wont 
to  delight  in  trips  together  on  the  penny  steamboats  on 
the  Thames,  their  enjoyment  of  which  was  considerably 
enhanced  by  a  copious  consumption  of  nuts  and  oranges. 
In  1856,  the  Mendelssohn  Scholarship  (in  memory  of 
the  illustrious  musician  of  that  name)  was  brought  into 


musician,  was  born  in  London,  May  13th,  1842. 


328 


HYMN-TUNE  COMPOSERS. 


active  existence,  mainly  through  the  exertions  of  that 
estimable  artist  and  lady  the  late  Madame  Jenny  Lind 
Goldschmidt.  In  July  of  that  year  Sullivan,  in  com- 
petition with  nineteen  others,  carried  off  this  important 
musical  prize.  Without  leaving  the  Chapel  Royal,  he 
began  to  study  at  the  Royal  Academy  of  Music,  under 
John  Goss  for  harmony,  and  Sterndale  Bennett  for 
piano.  In  the  autumn  of  1858,  under  the  terms  of  the 
Scholarship,  he  entered  the  Conservatorium  at  Leipzig, 
amongst  his  teachers  being  Moscheles,  who  thirty- 
four  years  previously  had  given  pianoforte  lessons  to 
Mendelssohn.  On  his  return  to  London,  Sullivan 
brought  with  him  his  music  to  Shakespeare's  Tempest 
(his  exit  opus  from  the  Conservatorium),  which  was  per- 
formed at  the  Crystal  Palace  on  April  5  th,  1862,  to  the 
contentment  of  Charles  Dickens,  and  repeated  the  fol- 
lowing week.  This  beautiful  composition  made  a  great 
sensation  in  musical  circles,  and  our  composer  at  once 
made  his  mark.  At  his  first  concert  in  St.  James's  Hall 
Jenny  Lind  came  from  her  retirement  on  purpose  to 
sing  for  him.  Never  was  a  composer  more  auspiciously 
launched  into  London  musical  and  fashionable  society. 
During  the  early  part  of  his  career  Mr.  Sullivan  was 
organist  and  choirmaster  of  St.  Michael's,  Chester 
Square,  and  of  St.  Peter's,  Onslow  Gardens;  but  in 
1 87 1  he  entirely  relinquished  his  Sunday  engage- 
ments. 

It  is  beyond  the  province  of  this  notice  to 
trace  his  career  step  by  step.  Suffice  it  to  say  that 
success  has  accompanied  his  progress  in  an  extra- 


SIR  ARTHUR  SULLIVAN. 


329 


ordinary  manner.  Nearly  all  the  productions  of  his 
pen  —  symphony,  overtures,  oratorios  {The  Prodigal 
Son,  The  Light  of  the  World),  Festival  Te  Deum  (on  the 
recovery  of  the  Prince  of  Wales  from  his  illness  in 
1872);  cantatas  {The  Martyr  of  Antioch,  The  Golden 
Legend) ;  operas,  songs,  part-songs,  anthems,  hymn 
tunes,  etc.,  have  fared  ahke,  in  having  sustained  an 
almost  unbroken  record  of  brilliant  achievement.  Of 
late  years  Sir  Arthur  has  struck  upon  a  new  vein  of 
musical  v^orks,  the  comic  operas  which  are  inseparably 
associated  with  his  name,  and  which  have  met  with 
unprecedented  success.  His  songs  and  part-songs  are, 
perhaps,  as  widely  known  as  his  other  works.  They 
are  generally  of  a  tender  or  sentimental  cast,  and 
some  of  them  stand  in  a  very  high  rank.  Many  have 
attained  a  wonderful  degree  of  popularity,  and  have 
hit  the  public  taste  in  a  remarkable  manner.  Such, 
for  instance,  as  "Will  he  come  ?  "  "  The  Lost  Chord," 
"The  Distant  Shore,"  and    O,  hush  thee,  my  babie." 

From  our  composer's  early  training  in  the  Chapel 
Royal,  and  his  subsequent  organ  appointments,  it  is 
not  to  be  wondered  at  that  his  church  music  attains  a 
high  standard  of  excellence.  His  anthems  and  hymn- 
tunes  are  as  popular  and  tuneful  as  his  secular  compo- 
sitions. If  congregations  were  asked  to  vote  upon 
their  favourite  tune,  Sullivan's  "  St.  Gertrude,"  to 
Onward,  Christian  soldiers,"  would  head  the  Hst 
with  a  very  large  majority.  (It  will  be  noticed  that 
the  tenor  of  the  first  four  bars  of  this  tune  becomes  the 
melody  of  the  next  four  bars,  and  vice  versa.)  Most 


330 


HYMN-TUNE  COMPOSERS. 


of  his  tunes  were  written  between  1867  ^^^^  1874, 
and  were  principally  contributed  to  The  Hymnary 
and  Church  Hymns.  Of  the  latter  he  was  musical 
editor,  and  contributed  to  it  twenty-one  original  tunes, 
most  of  which  have  found  their  way  into  other  col- 
lections, and  are  sung  with  enjoyment  by  various 
sections  of  the  Christian  community. 

Mr.  SulHvan  was  Principal  of  the  National  Training 
School  for  Music  from  1876  to  1 881.  He  received  the 
honorary  degree  of  Doctor  of  Music  from  the  University 
of  Cambridge  in  1876,  and  Oxford  in  1879.  In  1878  he 
was  decorated  at  Paris  with  the  Legion  d^honneur,  and 
he  bears  the  Order  of  Saxe-Coburg  and  Gotha.  In 
1883,  in  company  with  the  late  Professor  G.  A. 
Macfarren,  he  received  the  honour  of  Knighthood  at 
the  hands  of  the  Queen. 

Sir  Arthur  Sullivan's  music — vocal  and  instrumental 
alike — is  characterised  by  melodiousness  and  exquisite 
refinement.  He  possesses  the  rare  gift  of  being  able  to 
satisfy  the  critical  instincts  of  the  trained  musician  and 
the  natural  longings  of  the  musically  uncultured  at  the 
same  time.  In  his  compositions  he  never  fails  to  be 
interesting  ;  he  is  always  tuneful  and  never  dull. 
Everything  that  he  puts  his  hand  to  is  sure  to  meet 
with  success,  whether  it  be  a  child's  simple  hymn-tune 
— e.g.,  "Brightly  gleams  our  banner" — or  an  elaborate 
chorus  with  brilliant  orchestral  colouring.  The  sound 
schooling  in  the  traditions  of  the  English  Church  com- 
posers which  he  received  at  the  Chapel  Royal  is 
manifested  in  many  of  his  works  ;  indeed,  it  is  no 


SIR  ARTHUR  SULLIVAN. 


331 


uncommon  thing  to  find  specimens  of  this  strict  eccle- 
siastical style  in  several  of  his  compositions  that  can 
hardly  be  classed  as  serious.  To  the  excellent  vocal 
training  imparted  to  him  during  his  choristership  may 
be  traced  that  easy  flow  of  the  voice  parts  in  his  part 
music  that  makes  it  so  delightful  and  pleasant  to  sing. 
Judging  from  his  latest  works,  the  stream  of  melody 
seems  to  be  almost  perennial ;  there  is  no  sign  of  its 
becoming  in  the  least  degree  parched,  for  it  flows  on  as 
freshly,  as  copiously,  and  as  joyously  as  ever. 

Unlike  most  of  his  craft,  Sir  Arthur  has  had  little 
experience  of  the  joys  and  sorrows  of  teaching.  He 
says:  ''When  I  began  the  study  of  music  I  was  deter- 
mined to  live  by  my  pen,  if  it  were  possible,  and  I 
resolved  not  to  teach  if  I  could  help  it;  and  I  was  for 
several  years  a  church  organist  living  on  ;^8o  a  year, 
that  I  might  devote  all  the  time  I  could  to  composition." 

Sir  Arthur  resides  on  A  flat  {a  natural  abode  for  a 
musician)  in  Victoria  Street,  Westminster,  where  he 
hospitably  entertains  his  numerous  friends,  among 
whom  is  no  less  a  personage  than  the  Heir  Apparent. 
He  is  naturally  a  prominent  figure  in  London  Society, 
and  his  vivacious  manner  and  cheerful  temperament 
make  him  an  exceptionally  pleasant  companion.  He 
composes  at  a  time  when  most  other  people  are  com- 
posed in  slumber,  viz.,  in  the  small  hours  of  the 
morning — to  use  his  own  words,  "  When  postmen  cease 
from  troubling,  and  omnibuses  are  at  rest." 

4 


MR.  JOSEPH  BARNBY. 
1838— 

ORKSHIRE  is  the  "county  of  many  acres"  and 


A  of  many  singers.  One  Yorkshire  voice  is  equal 
to  about  two  and  a  half  London  voices,  and  the  perfec- 
tion of  choral  singing  may  be  heard  in  our  largest 
county.  It  seems  quite  natural,  therefore,  that  one 
of  our  best  choirmasters  and  most  skilful  conductors 
should  hail  from  this  very  musical  region. 

Joseph  Barnby  was  born  at  York,  August  12th, 
1838.  He  was  the  youngest  of  seven  brothers,  all 
of  whom  have  displayed  musical  talent.  At  the  age 
of  seven  this  "  Benjamin  "  (albeit  named  Joseph)  of  the 
family  became  a  chorister  in  York  Minster.  Music 
came  to  him  instinctively,  and  he  cannot  remember 
ever  having  learned  the  alphabet  of  his  art — it  was 
in  his  blood.  He  became  an  organist  at  the  age  of 
twelve.  Four  years  later  he  came  to  London,  and, 
entering  the  Royal  Academy  of  Music,  became  a 
fellow-student  of  Sir  Arthur  Sullivan.  When  the 
Mendelssohn  Scholarship  was  instituted  in  1856,  the 
two  friends  had  a  neck-and-neck  race  for  the  first 
scholarship.  There  was  a  dead  heat,  and  at  the  final 
trial  Barnby  became  a  very^  good  second. 


MR.  JOSEPH  BARNBY. 


333 


He  was  organist  successively  of  St.  Michael's, 
Queenhithe ;  St.  James-the-Less,  Westminster ;  and 
St.  Andrew's,  Wells  Street.  It  was  during  the 
palmy  days  of  the  St.  Andrew's  choir,  which  was 
then  engaged  in  developing  the  modern  style  of 
cathedral  music,  that  Mr.  Barnby  succeeded  in 
advancing  its  efficiency  till  it  was  second  to  none 
in  London. 

His  engagements  became  so  pressing,  that  in  1871 
he  was  compelled  to  resign  this  post,  where  week-day 
as  well  as  Sunday  duties  occupied  him,  for  the  less 
arduous  duties  of  St.  Anne's,  Soho.  There  he  intro- 
duced, for  the  first  time  in  England,  Bach's  smaller 
Passion  of  St.  John,  which  was  and  is  still  performed 
every  Friday  during  Lent,  and  it  has  been  charac- 
terised as  scarcely  less  impressive  than  the  Ober- 
Ammergau  Passion  Play. 

Since  1875  Mr.  Barnby  has  been  precentor  and 
director  of  musical  instruction  at  Eton  College — a 
position  he  still  worthily  holds.  The  advantage  of 
having  a  musician  of  his  experience  and  attainments 
to  develop  the  musical  taste  in  this  historic  school  is 
obvious ;  and,  as  the  study  of  music  in  all  the  lower 
forms  is  now  compulsory,  the  influence  which  he 
wields  amongst  the  scions  of  the  aristocracy  should 
leave  its  effect  on  the  art  of  music  in  the  highest  circles 
in  the  land. 

From  1 86 1  to  1876  Mr.  Barnby  held  the  responsible 
post  of  musical  adviser  to  the  great  firm  of  Novello, 
Ewer,  &  Co.    But  perhaps  his  chief  claim  to  the  niche  ot 


334 


HYMN-TUNE  COMPOSERS. 


fame  is  his  skill  as  conductor  of  large  bodies  of  singers 
and  players.    Owing  to  his  success  with  his  church 
choir,  and  backed  up  by  Messrs.  Novello,  he  raised 
a  larger  one  to  sing  at  St.  James's  Hall,  which  soon 
became  known  as    Barnby's  Choir."    Its  performance 
constituted  his  first  great  success  as  a  conductor,  and 
that,  too,  in  the  face  of  considerable  misgivings  on 
the  part  of  the  profession,  who  thought  it  would  be 
impossible  to  get  an  amateur  choir  to  sing  without 
professional  leaders.      But  Mr.  Barnby  persevered. 
As  he  observes,  with    considerable  feeling,  "  I  had 
myself  trained  my  choir,  I  believed  in  its  capabilities, 
and  I  was  not  disappointed.    On  the  opening  night,  as 
I  raised  my  baton,  the  choir  burst  forth  into  song  like 
one  voice.    I  have  never  obtained  a  finer  start."  So 
delighted   and  astonished  were  Benedict  and  Sims 
Reeves,  that  at  the  conclusion  they  hurried  up  to 
congratulate  him.     It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  Mr. 
Barnby  has  gained  all  his  choral  successes,  from  that 
time  to  the  present,  by  means  of  amateur  singers, 
without  any  admixture  of  the  professional  element. 
The  secret  of  his  triumphs  must  be  ascribed  to  the 
possession  of  an  indomitable  will,  a  frank  good-nature, 
and  a  power  of  keeping  the  minds  of  his  singers  con- 
centrated on  their  work.  Another  secret  of  his  success  is 
his  insisting  upon  having  the  words  clearly  enunciated, 
so  that  anyone  can  understand  what  is  being  sung 
without  having  the  words  before  him.     The  writer 
well  remembers  the  attention  paid  to  this  important 
feature  at  the  earliest  rehearsals  of  the  choir  in  a  small 


MR.  JOSEPH  BARNBY. 


335 


hall  near  Oxford  Street,  and  recalls  wilh  gratitude  the 
many  lessons  he  received  on  a  point  so  frequently 
overlooked  by  choirmasters. 

Mr.  Barnby  revived  several  neglected  but  fine  works 
of  the  old  masters,  notably  Handel's  Jephthahj  till  then 
never  heard  in  England  since  Handel's  time ;  and 
Bach's  greater  Passion  of  St.  Matthew  for  double 
orchestra  and  double  choir.  The  latter  proved  a 
briUiant  success.  Macfarren  asserted  that  it  was  so 
perfect  that  he  would  gladly  rest  his  memory  for  ever 
on  that  one  performance ;  while  Dean  Stanley  was  so 
impressed  by  its  grandeur,  sublimity,  and  beauty  that 
he  sanctioned  its  introduction  at  Westminster  Abbey, 
and  no  words  can  adequately  describe  the  un- 
precedented effect  of  this  marvellous  music  rendered 
by  a  surpliced  choir  of  three  hundred  and  fifty  voices 
within  the  walls  of  the  grand  old  Abbey.  Those  who 
were  present  assert  that  no  more  impressive  musical 
performance  has  ever  been  heard. 

In  1 87 1  Mr.  Barnby  succeeded  Gounod  as  conductor 
of  the  Royal  Albert  Hall  Choral  Society,  now  the 
Royal  Choral  Society,  with  what  success  it  is  hardly 
necessary  to  say. 

As  a  composer  Mr.  Barnby  has  been  very  suc- 
cessful. Every  admirer  of  Church  music  is  familiar 
with  his  service  in  E,  the  favourite  service  of 
Charles  Kingsley,  who,  whilst  Canon  of  Chester, 
always  had  it  performed  for  the  benefit  of  any  dis- 
tinguished visitors  who  might  happen  to  be  attending. 
A  friendship  and  a   reciprocated  admiration  existed 


336 


HYMN-TUNE  COMPOSERS. 


between  the  Canon  and  the  composer,  fostered  by  their 
mutual  love  of  music.  Mr.  Barnby  gives  an  interest- 
ing account  of  his  first  sight  of  Kingsley  on  his  own 
hearthrug  at  Eversley.  He  was  dressed  in  a  quaint 
unclerical  get-up"  of  knickerbockers,  high-lows, 
velveteen  shooting  coat,  and  a  wisp  of  black  ribbon 
around  a  shirt-collar  much  opened  at  the  throat. 
Mr.  Barnby  also  relates  how  agreeably  he  spent  his 
first  evening  under  the  Canon's  roof,  swinging  in  a 
hammock,  while  Kingsley,  seated  close  by,  read 
Shelley  aloud  as  only  he  could  do. 

One  of  his  most  popular  compositions  is  the  part- 
song  Sweet  and  Low  "  to  Tennyson's  words.  This 
lay  buried  for  some  time  under  a  heap  of  manuscripts 
at  a  music  pu Wisher's,  when  Mr.  Barnby  one  day  called 
upon  the  firm  and  unearthed  his  music,  and  would  have 
taken  it  away ;  but  when  the  publishers  heard  him  play 
it  over  they  eagerly  accepted  it.  His  cantatas,  Rebekah 
and  The  Lord  is  King,  with  the  motett  King  all 
glorious,"  are  favourably  known  ;  while  of  anthems,  who 
does  not  know  his  setting  of  O  Lord,  how  manifold  "  ? 
Of  his  secular  songs,  When  the  tide  comes  in  "  may 
be  instanced  as  a  composition  of  singular  beauty. 

Mr.  Barnby  has  largely  contributed  to  our  ever- 
increasing  stock  of  hymn-tunes.  He  edited  the 
Hymnary,  and  enriched  it  with  many  choice  tunes. 
His  setting  of  the  ''Endless  Alleluia,"  "When 
morning  gilds  the  skies,"  and  "  Jesu,  my  Lord,"  are 
widely  known  and  always  admired.  A  unison  tune  to 
"Jesu,  Lover  of  my  soul"  (composed  in  1866)  is  full 


MR.  [OSEPH  BARNEY. 


337 


of  pathos,  and  illustrates  the  depth  and  expression  of 
Charles  Wesley's  words  with  remarkable  beauty  and 
appropriateness.  Indeed,  his  compositions  possess  a 
flow  of  beautiful  melody,  and  there  is  also  evident  a 
richness  and  originality  in  the  harmony  which  has 
rarely  been  surpassed  by  English  writers. 

Mr.  Barnby  is  a  strong  Radical  in  Church  music,  and 
especially  in  regard  to  hymn-tunes.  He  has  no  sym- 
pathy with  those  who  plead  for  the  "  severe  but  pleasing 
simplicity  of  Tallis  and  other  old  writers."  Nor  does  he 
approve  of  confining  his  writings  to  any  one  style  or 
period,  but  believes  in  composing  tunes  in  a  style  that 
will  be  the  natural  expression  of  his  feelings.  But  we 
will  let  him  speak  for  himself,  in  the  preface  to  his 
collection  of  Hymns  and  Tunes  ( i  st  series,  1 869)  : — 

The  terms  effeminate  and  maudlin,  with  others,  are  freely 
used  nowadays  to  stigmatise  such  new  tunes  as  are  not  direct 
imitations  of  old  ones.  And  yet  it  has  always  appeared 
strange  to  me  that  musicians  should  be  found  who,  whilst 
admitting  that  seventeenth  century  tunes  were  very  properly 
written  in  what  we  may  call  the  natural  idiom  of  that  period, 
will  not  allow  nineteenth  century  ones  to  be  written  in  the 
idiom  of  that  day.  You  may  imitate  and  plagiarise  the  old 
tunes  to  any  extent,  and  in  all  probability  you  will  be  spoken 
of  as  one  who  is  '  thoroughly  imbued  with  the  truly  devo- 
tional spirit  of  the  old  ecclesiastical  writers,'  but  you  are  not 
permitted  on  any  account  to  give  your  natural  feelings  fair 
play,  or,  in  short,  to  write  spontaneously.  The  strangest  part 
of  the  argument,  however,  is  that  whilst  you  are  urged  to 
imitate  the  old  works,  you  are  warned  in  the  same  breath 
that  to  succeed  is  altogether  without  the  bounds  of  possibility. 
The  question  then  naturally  arises,  Would  it  not  be  better, 
though  at  the  risk  of  doing  feebler  things,  to  follow  your  own 
natural  style,  which  at  least  would  possess  the  merit  of  truth, 

22 


338 


HYMN-TUNE  COMPOSERS. 


and  to  leave  the  task  of  endeavouring  to  achieve  an  impossi- 
biUty  to  those  who  prefer  it  ?  For  my  part,  I  have  elected  to 
imitate  the  old  writers  in  their  independent  method  of  working 
rather  than  their  works." 

We  shake  hands  with  our  composer  over  this  "  con- 
fession of  faith,"  and  bid  our  readers  Farev^ell." 


INDEXES. 


INDEX  I. 


PSALMS  MENTIONED. 


PAGE 

PAGE 

iii.,  iv 

.  58 

Ivii.  . 

a 
0 

vii.          .  . 

31 

Ix.  . 

10 

viii 

10 

Ixviii. 

.  38 

xiv. 

0 

Ixx.  . 

C 

xviii. 

Ixxii. 

5,  6,  67 

xix. 

.  16 

Ixxvi. 

.  79 

xxii. 

10 

Ixxxiv. 

.  86 

xxiii. 

.  16 

Ixxxix. 

5 

xxiv. 

.    .  38 

xc.  . 

.  5»7 

xxix. 

.  16 

c.  . 

10 

xxxii. 

.  47 

ci.  . 

.      .  38 

xl.  . 

6 

cii.  . 

.  86 

xlii.,  xliii. 

.     5,  6,  86 

cvi.  . 

S 

xlv. 

10,  67 

cviii. 

6 

xlvi. 

.  79 

cxiii.-cxviii. 

II 

xlviii. 

.  79 

cxv.-cxviii. 

•  99 

li.  . 

•  47 

cxix. 

9 

Iv.  . 

.       .  58 

cxx.-cxxxiv. 

38,  99 

Ivi.  . 

10,  31 

cxxxvii.  . 

.  86 

342 


INDEX, 


INDEX  II. 


HYMNS  MENTIONED. 


A  safe  stronghold  our  God  is  still   151 

Abide  with  me  !  fast  falls  the  eventide        ....  164 

All  glory,  laud,  and  honour   146 

All  praise  to  Thee,  my  God,  this  night        ....  166 

All  things  bright  and  beautiful   122 

And  didst  Thou  leave  the  race   264 

Angels  and  supernal  powers   127 

Art  thou  weary,  art  thou  languid   140 

Awake,  my  soul,  and  with  the  sun                                  .  166 

Awake,  my  soul,  to  meet  the  day   178 

Before  Jehovah's  awful  throne   I73 

Begone,  unbelief  .       .   206 

Behold  the  glories  of  the  Lamb   171 

Brief  life  is  here  our  portion   146 

Brightest  and  best  of  the  sons  of  the  morning     .       .       .  122 

By  cool  Siloam's  shady  rill   122 

Children  of  the  Heavenly  King    .       .       .       .       .       .  124 

Christ,  Whose  glory  fills  the  skies   189 

Come,  Holy  Ghost,  our  souls  inspire   .       .       .       .  -139 

Come,  let  us  join  our  cheerful  songs   171 

Come,  Thou  Holy  Spirit,  come   147 

Come,  ye  sinners,  poor  and  wretched  .       .       .       .       .  125 

Come,  ye  thankful  people,  come  .       .       .       .       .       .  243 

Creator  Spirit,  by  Whose  aid   158 


INDEX.  343 


PAGE 

Day  of  wrath,  O  day  of  mourning  .  .  .  .  .149 
Days  and  moments  quickly  flying       .       .  .       .  230 

Dear  Christian  people,  now  rejoice  152 

Dear  Jesus,  ever  at  Thy  side  237 

Dear  Lord  and  Father  of  mankind  258 

Do  no  sinful  action      .  122 

Eternal  Beam  of  Light  Divine  190 

Far  from  the  world,  O  Lord,  I  flee   199 

Father,  I  know  that  all  my  life   126 

Fear  not,  O  little  flock,  the  foe   153 

For  all  the  saints  who  from  their  labours     ....  247 

For  ever  with  the  Lord   213 

For  thee,  O  dear,  dear  country   146 

*'  Forward  "  be  our  watchword   243 

From  Greenland's  icy  mountains   209 

Gentle  Jesus,  meek  and  mild      .       .       .       .       .       .  121 

God  moves  in  a  mysterious  way   198 

Golden  harps  are  sounding   225 

Gracious  Spirit,  dwell  with  me   267 

Hail,  gladdening  Light,  of  His  pure  glory   .       .       .  .131 

Hail  to  the  Lord's  Anointed  .213 

Hark,  hark,  my  soul,  angelic  songs  237 

Hark  how  the  adoring  host  above  .  .  .  .  .172 
Hark  the  glad  sound  !  the  Saviour  comes    .       .       .       .  179 

He  giveth  sun.  He  giveth  shower  270 

He  is  gone — a  cloud  of  light       .       .       .       .       .       .  242 

Holy,  Holy,  Holy,  Lord  God  Almighty       ....  209 

Holy,  Holy,  Holy,  Lord  God  of  Hosts        .       .       .  .129 

How  are  Thy  servants  blest,  O  Lord  160 

How  doth  the  little  busy  bee  .174 


344 


INDEX. 


PAGE 

I  am  trusting  Thee,  Lord  Jesus   226 

I  do  not  ask,  O  Lord,  that  life  may  be  .  .  .  .126 
I  think  when  I  read  that  sweet  story  of  old        .       .  .121 

Immortal  Love,  for  ever  full   258 

Jerusalem  the  golden   146 

Jesus,  I  my  cross  have  taken   164 

Jesus,  I  will  trust  Thee   222 

Jesus,  Lover  of  my  soul   191 

Jesus,  Master,  Whom  I  serve   226 

Jesus,  Master,  Whose  I  am   226 

Jesus  shall  reign  where'er  the  sun   175 

Jesus,  the  very  thought  of  Thee   145 

Jesus,  Thou  art  the  Rose   128 

Jesus,  Thou  joy  of  loving  hearts   145 

Jesus,*  where'er  Thy  people  meet   198 

Just  as  I  am,  without  one  plea   217 

Lead,  kindly  Light,  amid  the  encircling       ....  231 

Let  dogs  delight  to  bark  and  bite   120 

Let  us  with  a  gladsome  mind   158 

Lo  !  on  a  narrow  neck  of  land   190 

Look  from  Thy  sphere  of  endless  day   259 

Lord  Jesus,  think  on  me   133 

Lord  of  all  being,  throned  afar   253 

Lord  of  the  living  harvest   248 

Much  in  sorrow,  oft  in  woe   161 

My  faith  looks  up  to  Thee   220 

My  God  and  Father,  while  I  stray   216 

My  God,  how  wonderful  Thou  art   237 

My  heart  is  resting,  O  my  God   126 

My  very  thoughts  are  selfish   124 


INDEX.  345 


PAGE 

Nearer,  my  God,  to  Thee     .   145 

Now  thank  we  all  our  God   154 

Now  the  labourer's  task  is  o'er   250 

O  come  and  mourn  with  me  awhile   237 

O  conscience !  conscience !  when  I  look     ....  128 

O  day  of  rest  and  gladness  !   246 

O  deem  not  they  are  blest  alone   260 

O  for  a  closer  walk  with  God   197 

O  for  a  thousand  tongues  to  sing   191 

O  God  of  Bethel,  by  Whose  hand   180 

O  God,  the  Rock  of  Ages   245 

O  happy  band  of  pilgrims   143 

O  happy  day  that  fixed  my  choice   179 

O  help  us,  Lord,  each  hour  of  need   242 

O  Jesus  Christ,  the  righteous  !   252 

O  Light  of  life,  O  Saviour  dear   271 

O  Light  Whose  beams  illumine  all   244 

O  Lord  of  heaven,  and  earth,  and  sea   246 

O  Love  Divine,  that  stooped  to  share   254 

O  Paradise  !  O  Paradise  !   237 

O  sacred  Head  once  wounded   145 

O  spirit  of  the  living  God    .       .       .       .       .       .       .  213 

Object  of  my  first  desire     .......  183 

Of  the  Father's  love  begotten   136 

Once  in  Royal  David's  city   122 

Our  blest  Redeemer,  ere  He  breathed        ....  264 

Our  day  of  praise  is  done   250 

Peace,  perfect  peace,  in  this  dark  world  ....  245 
Praise  God  from  Whom  all  blessings  flow  .       .       .  .166 

Prayer  is  the  soul's  sincere  desire   212 


Rest  of  the  weary,  Joy  of  the  sad 


248 


346 


INDEX. 


PAGE 

Ride  on,  ride  on  in  majesty   242 

Rock  of  Ages,  cleft  for  me   184 

Safe  home,  safe  home  in  port      .       .       ...       .       .  143 

Saviour,  again  to  Thy  dear  Name  we  raise  ....  249 

Saviour,  visit  Thy  plantation   205 

See,  the  Conqueror  mounts  in  triumph       ....  246 

Shepherd  of  tender  youth   130 

Sometimes  a  light  surprises   197 

Sow  in  the  morn  thy  seed   213 

Sweet  Saviour,  bless  us  e'er  we  go   237 

Take  me,  O  my  Father,  take  me   221 

Take  my  life,  and  let  it  be   227 

Tell  it  out  among  the  heathen   225 

Ten  thousand  times  ten  thousand   243 

The  Church's  one  foundation      .       .       .       .       .       .  250 

The  day  is  past  and  over   137 

The  day  Thou  gavest,  Lord,  is  ended   250 

The  King  of  Glory  we  proclaim   214 

The  Lord  delights  in  them  that  speak        ....  120 

The  spacious  firmament  on  high   161 

The  Sundays  of  man's  life   128 

The  sun  is  sinking  fast   231 

There  is  a  dreadful  hell   120 

There  is  a  green  hill  far  away   122 

There  is  a  land  of  pure  delight   174 

Thine  arm,  O  Lord,  in  days  of  old   244 

Throughout  the  deep  Thy  footsteps  shine  .       .       .  .188 

Thy  life  was  given  for  me   226 

Yield  not  to  temptation       .       .       .       .     '  .       .       .  221 

Your  harps,  ye  trembling  saints   183 

Wake,  awake,  the  night  is  flying   153 


INDEX. 


347 


PAGE 

We  aie  but  little  children  weak   122 

We  give  Thee  but  Thine  own   247 

Weary  of  earth  and  laden  with  my  sin       .       .       .  .251 

W^hat  if  His  dreadful  anger  burn   119 

When  all  Thy  mercies,  O  my  God   160 

When  Israel  of  the  Lord  beloved   161 

When  I  survey  the  wondrous  cross   174 

When  morning  gilds  the  skies   231 

When  our  heads  are  bowed  with  woe   242 

When  the  day  of  toil  is  done   250 

Where'er  the  gentle  heart    .......  271 

Worship  the  Lord  in  the  beauty  of  holiness       .       .       .  248 


348 


INDEX. 


INDEX  III. 


HYMN-  WRITERS  MENTIONED. 


PAGE 

PAGE 

Adams  . 

.  269 

Ellerton  . 

.  249 

Addison  . 

• 

Elliott,  Charlotte  . 

.  215 

Adolphus,  Gustavus 

•  153 

Ephraim  the  Syrian 

•  131 

Alexander,  Dr.  J.  W. 

• 

Al(=*vi:inr1f^r  IVTrc 
^^iCAciilLlCl  1  IVlXo* 

.     1 22 

Faber       .      .  . 

124,  233 

Alford  . 

.  243 

Ambrose . 

.  134 

Gerhardt 

.  116 

Anatolius 

•  137 

Gregory  the  Great  . 

.  137 

Auber,  Harriet 

.  264 

H.  L.  L.  . 

.  272 

Bardesan 

•  131 

Hart,  Joseph  . 

.  124 

Bernard  (Clairvaux) 

•  143 

Havergal . 

125,  221 

Bernard  (Cluny) 

.  146 

Heber 

122,  207 

Berridge,  John 

.  128 

Herbert,  George 

.  128 

Bickersteth 

233,  245 

Holmes,  O.  W. 

•  253 

Bonar 

.  218 

How,  Walsham 

.  247 

Bo  wring  . 

.  272 

Bryant,  W.  C. 

.  258 

Ingelow,  Jean  . 

.  264 

Cennick,  John 

.  124 

Keble  . 

.  238 

Clement  of  Alexandria 

.  130 

Ken  ... 

.  166 

Cowper  . 

.  195 

Luke,  Mrs. 

.  121 

Doddridge 

.  176 

Luther.    .       .  . 

113, 

Dryden  . 

.  158 

Lynch 

.  296 

INDEX. 


349 


PAGE 

Lyte       ....  163 

Milman  ....  242 
Milton  .  .  .  .158 
Monsell  .  .  .  .248 
Montgomery  .       .  .210 

Neale  .  .  .116,  146 
Newman  ....  228 
Newton  ....  200 
Nicolai    .       .       .  -153 

Olivers    .       .       .  .114 

Palgrave  .       .  .  .270 

Palmer,  Ray    .  .  .  220 

Plumptre        ,  .  .  244 

Procter,  A.  A.  .  126,  261 

Prudentius      .  .  .136 

Rinckart  .       .  .  -154 

Robert  II.  of  France  .  147 

St.  Cosma      .       .       .  140 


PAGE 


St.  John  Damascene 

140 

St.  Joseph  01  the  Studium 

143 

St.  Stephen  the  Sabaite  . 

141 

Scott,  Sir  Walter  . 

161 

Stanley  .... 

241 

Steele,  Anne  . 

114 

Stone  .... 

250 

Synesius  of  Cyrene 

133 

Tate,  Faithful  . 

127 

Taylor,  Ann  . 

121 

Taylor,  Jane  . 

121 

Theodulph 

146 

Toplady  .... 

181 

• 

Waring,  A.  L. 

126 

Watts      .       .  .118, 

170 

Wesley   .       ,       .  121, 

186 

White,  Kirke  . 

161 

Whittier  .... 

255 

Wither,  George      .  123, 

127 

Wordsworth,  Bishop 

246 

Xavier  .... 

116 

350  INDEX. 


INDEX  IV. 


HYMN- TUNE   COMPOSERS  MENTIONED, 

PAGE 

Barnby,  J  332 

Dykes,  J.  B.        ...  ......  302 

Gauntlett,  H.  J  277 

Hopkins,  E.  J  295 

Monk,  W.  H  310 

Smart,  H.     .  285 

Stainer,  J.    .       .       .       .       .       .       .       .       .  .31? 

Sullivan,  A.  S  327 


INDEX. 


351 


INDEX  V. 

HYMN-TUNES  MENTIONED. 


PAGE 

Aber  ("  O  perfect  life  of  love  ")  -313 

Benediction  ("  Saviour,  again  ")  300 

Beverley  ("  Thou  art  coming  ")  313 

Dominus  regit  me  ("  The  King  of  Love  ")    ....  308 

Endless  Alleluia  336 

Epenetus  122,  225 

Eventide  ("Abide  with  me")  313,  314 

Heathlands  .       .  289 

Hermas  .122 

Hollingside  ("  Jesus,  Lover  of  my  soul ")    ....  309 

Irby  283 

Lancashire  289 

Laudes  Domini  ("  When  morning  gilds  the  skies  ")  .  .  336 
London,  New  308 

Melcombe  308 

Melita  ("  Eternal  Father,  strong  to  save  ")  .  .  .  .  309 
Miles'  Lane  293 

Northumberland  289 


352 


INDEX. 


PAGE 

Nun  danket  .       .   155 

Nymphos                                                              .       .  122 

Olivet  ("  My  faith  looks  up  to  Thee  ")   220 

Patmos   122 

Pilgrims  (Smart)   289 

Regent  Square   289 

Requiescat  ("  Now  the  labourer's  task  is  done  ")  .       .       .  309 

Rockingham   325 

St.  Aelred  ("  Fierce  raged  the  tempest")     ....  309 

,,  Albinus   283 

„  Alphege   283 

„  Anatolius  ("The  day  is  past  and  over")       .       .       .  309 

„  Bees  ("  Hark,  my  soul '')   308 

„  Chrysostom  ("  Jesus,  my  Lord  ")   336 

Fabian  ("  Jesus,  Lover  of  my  soul  ")     •       •       •       •  336 

„  Gertrude                                                               .  329 

„  Leonard   289 

„  Matthias  ("  Sweet  Saviour,  bless  us  ")   ....  313 

,,  Theresa  ("  Brightly  gleams  our  banner  ")      .       .       .  330 

Sebaste  ("  Hail,  gladdening  Light  ")   323 

The  blessed  home   323 

Vesper  ("  Holy  Father,  cheer  our  way  ")     ....  323 

Vox  angelica  ("  Hark,  hark,  my  soul ")       ....  308 

Wareham   325 

Weber   314 


